Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record

Background and aims Previous examinations of International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes to predict accuracy of diagnosis in inflammatory bowel disease have had limited chart review to confirm diagnosis. We aimed to evaluate using the ICD-9-CM for...

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Main Authors: Susan Hutfless, Manish Singla, Elie Al Kazzi, Benjamin Rodriguez, John Betteridge, Steven R Brant
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-12-01
Series:BMJ Open Gastroenterology
Online Access:https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000378.full
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author Susan Hutfless
Manish Singla
Elie Al Kazzi
Benjamin Rodriguez
John Betteridge
Steven R Brant
author_facet Susan Hutfless
Manish Singla
Elie Al Kazzi
Benjamin Rodriguez
John Betteridge
Steven R Brant
author_sort Susan Hutfless
collection DOAJ
description Background and aims Previous examinations of International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes to predict accuracy of diagnosis in inflammatory bowel disease have had limited chart review to confirm diagnosis. We aimed to evaluate using the ICD-9-CM for identifying Crohn’s disease (CD) in a large electronic health record (EHR) database.Methods This is a retrospective case-control study with a 3:1 allocation of EHRs of active duty service members diagnosed with CD from 1996 to 2012. Subjects were selected by having two ICD-9-CM codes for CD and none for ulcerative colitis during the study period. Gastroenterologists reviewed each chart and confirmed the diagnosis of CD by analysing medication history and clinical, endoscopic, histological, and radiographic exams.Results 300 cases of CD were selected; 14 cases were discarded due to lack of data, limiting analysis to 284 subjects. Two diagnostic codes for CD had sensitivity and specificity of 1.0 and 0.53 respectively, for confirmed CD. If two or more encounters listing CD were with a gastroenterologist, the sensitivity and specificity was 0.71 and 0.87 respectively. If two encounters included a colonoscopy was performed at the same time as a CD code, sensitivity and specificity was 0.49 and 0.88 respectively.Conclusions The relatively poor specificity of ICD-9-CM codes in making the diagnosis of CD should be taken into consideration when interpreting results and when conducting research using such codes. Limiting these codes to patients given this diagnosis by a gastroenterologist, or to those who had a colonoscopy at the time of a diagnosis, increases the specificity, although at cost of sensitivity, especially for colonoscopy.
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spelling doaj-art-7bbac0d6653d4fb9b8668ad6a63a8a482025-08-20T01:56:38ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Gastroenterology2054-47742020-12-017110.1136/bmjgast-2020-000378Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health recordSusan Hutfless0Manish Singla1Elie Al Kazzi2Benjamin Rodriguez3John Betteridge4Steven R Brant54 Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United StatesGastroenterology Service, Department of Internal Medicine, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USADepartment of Medicine, MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USAGastroenterology Service, Department of Internal Medicine, US Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida, USARegional GI, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA10 Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USABackground and aims Previous examinations of International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes to predict accuracy of diagnosis in inflammatory bowel disease have had limited chart review to confirm diagnosis. We aimed to evaluate using the ICD-9-CM for identifying Crohn’s disease (CD) in a large electronic health record (EHR) database.Methods This is a retrospective case-control study with a 3:1 allocation of EHRs of active duty service members diagnosed with CD from 1996 to 2012. Subjects were selected by having two ICD-9-CM codes for CD and none for ulcerative colitis during the study period. Gastroenterologists reviewed each chart and confirmed the diagnosis of CD by analysing medication history and clinical, endoscopic, histological, and radiographic exams.Results 300 cases of CD were selected; 14 cases were discarded due to lack of data, limiting analysis to 284 subjects. Two diagnostic codes for CD had sensitivity and specificity of 1.0 and 0.53 respectively, for confirmed CD. If two or more encounters listing CD were with a gastroenterologist, the sensitivity and specificity was 0.71 and 0.87 respectively. If two encounters included a colonoscopy was performed at the same time as a CD code, sensitivity and specificity was 0.49 and 0.88 respectively.Conclusions The relatively poor specificity of ICD-9-CM codes in making the diagnosis of CD should be taken into consideration when interpreting results and when conducting research using such codes. Limiting these codes to patients given this diagnosis by a gastroenterologist, or to those who had a colonoscopy at the time of a diagnosis, increases the specificity, although at cost of sensitivity, especially for colonoscopy.https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000378.full
spellingShingle Susan Hutfless
Manish Singla
Elie Al Kazzi
Benjamin Rodriguez
John Betteridge
Steven R Brant
Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record
BMJ Open Gastroenterology
title Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record
title_full Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record
title_fullStr Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record
title_full_unstemmed Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record
title_short Clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of Crohn’s disease in a US military health record
title_sort clinical codes combined with procedure codes increase diagnostic accuracy of crohn s disease in a us military health record
url https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000378.full
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