Assessing the completeness and accuracy of South African National Laboratory CD4 and viral load data: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess the accuracy of the South African National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) corporate data warehouse (CDW) using a novel data cross-matching method.

Methods

Adults (≥18 years) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) who visited a hospital-based HIV clinic in Durban from March to June 2012 were included. We matched patient identifiers, CD4 and viral load (VL) records from the HIV clinic's electronic record with the NHLS CDW according to a set of matching criteria for patient identifiers, test values and test dates. We calculated the matching rates for patient identifiers, CD4 and VL records, and an overall matching rate.

Results

NHLS returned records for 3498 (89.6%) of the 3906 individuals requested. Using our computer algorithm, we confidently matched 32

SUBMITTER: Bassett IV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6112393 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature