Research archive: Vol. 36 No.2

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Volume 36 Number 2: >> Silent Witness: mortality records
	ICD-10 mortality coding and the NCIS: a comparative study Leanne Daking and Leonie Dodds p11 [ pdf ] Abstract The collection and utilisation of mortality data are often hindered by limited access to contextual details of the circumstances surrounding fatal incidents. The National Coroners Information System (NCIS) can provide researchers with access to such information. The NCIS search capabilities have been enhanced by the inclusion of data supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), specifically the ICD-10 Cause of Death code set. A comparative study was conducted to identify consistencies and differences between ABS ICD-10 codes and those that could be generated by utilising the full NCIS record. Discrepancies between the two sets of codes were detected in over 50% of cases, which highlighted the importance of access to complete and timely documentation in the assignment of accurate and detailed cause of death codes.
	Ischaemic heart disease and Australian immigrants: the influence of ethnicity and language skills on treatment and use of health services Andre M N Renzaho p26 [ pdf ] Abstract Admission rates for ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and the use of invasive cardiovascular procedures, separation mode and length of stay (LOS) were compared between Australians from non-English speaking background (NESB; n=8627) and English speaking background (ESB; n=13162) aged 20 years and over admitted to Victorian urban public hospitals. The study covered the period from 1993 to 1998. It was found that, compared with their ESB counterparts, the incidence of admission for acute myocardial infarction was significantly higher for NESB men and women before and after controlling for confounding factors. The age-adjusted ratios for NESB women compared with their ESB counterparts ranged from 1.23 to 1.89 for cardiac catheterisation, from 0.23 to 0.27 for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), and from 1.04 to 1.80 for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Procedure rates were comparable in men for cardiac catheterisation and CABG but higher for PTA rates in NESB men (OR: 1.29, 95%CI: 1.11-1.50) than their ESB counterparts. Both NESB men (B=0.04, 95%CI: 0.01-0.07) and women (B=0.03, 95%CI: 0.02-0.08) experienced significantly longer hospital stays than their ESB counterparts. These findings indicate there may be systematic differences in patients’ treatment and service utilisation in Victorian public hospitals. The extent to which physicians’ bias and patients’ choice could explain these differences requires further investigation.
	An analysis of the average waiting time during the patient discharge process at Kashani Hospital in Esfahan, Iran: a case study Sima Ajami and Saedeh Ketabi p37 [ pdf ]