Iosief Abraha, Diego Serraino, Alessandro Montedori, Mario Fusco, Gianni Giovannini, Paola Casucci, Francesco Cozzolino, Massimiliano Orso, Annalisa Granata, Marcello De Giorgi, Paolo Collarile, Rita Chiari, Jennifer Foglietta, Maria Francesca Vitale, Fabrizio Stracci, Walter Orlandi, Ettore Bidoli, The D.I.V.O. Group.

BMJ Open 2018;8:e020627. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2017-020627.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES:

To assess the accuracy of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes in identifying patients diagnosed with incident carcinoma in situ and invasive breast cancer in three Italian administrative databases.

DESIGN:

A diagnostic accuracy study comparing ICD-9-CM codes for carcinoma in situ (233.0) and for invasive breast cancer (174.x) with medical chart (as a reference standard). Case definition: (1) presence of a primary nodular lesion in the breast and (2) cytological or histological documentation of cancer from a primary or metastatic site.

SETTING:

Administrative databases from Umbria Region, Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL) Napoli 3 Sud (NA) and Friuli VeneziaGiulia (FVG) Region.

PARTICIPANTS:

Women with breast carcinoma in situ (n=246) or invasive breast cancer (n=384) diagnosed (in primary position) between 2012 and 2014.

OUTCOME MEASURES:

Sensitivity and specificity for codes 233.0 and 174.x.

RESULTS:

For invasive breast cancer the sensitivities were 98% (95% CI 93% to 99%) for Umbria, 96% (95% CI 91% to 99%) for NA and 100% (95% CI 97% to 100%) for FVG. Specificities were 90% (95% CI 82% to 95%) for Umbria, 91% (95% CI 83% to 96%) for NA and 91% (95% CI 84% to 96%) for FVG.For carcinoma in situ the sensitivities were 100% (95% CI 93% to 100%) for Umbria, 100% (95% CI 95% to 100%) for NA and 100% (95% CI 96% to 100%) for FVG. Specificities were 98% (95% CI 93% to 100%) for Umbria, 86% (95% CI 78% to 92%) for NA and 90% (95% CI 82% to 95%) for FVG.

CONCLUSIONS:

Administrative healthcare databases from Umbria, NA and FVG are accurate in identifying hospitalised news cases of carcinoma of the breast. The proposed case definition is a powerful tool to perform research on large populations of newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer.