Identifying birth defects in automated data sources in the Vaccine Safety Datalink.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several large healthcare organizations, aims to monitor safety of vaccines administered in the USA. We present definitions and prevalence estimates for major structural birth defects to be used in studies of maternal vaccine safety.

Methods

In this observational study, we created and refined algorithms for identifying major structural birth defects from electronic healthcare data, conducted formal chart reviews for severe cardiac defects, and conducted limited chart validation for other defects. We estimated prevalence for selected defects by VSD site and birth year and compared these estimates to those in a US and European surveillance system.

Results

SUBMITTER: Kharbanda EO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6506837 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature