Linkage of four administrative datasets to examine blood transfusion in pregnancy

Abstract

Currently collected hospital data records fact of transfusion, but lacks detail on quantity of blood transfused, and timing of transfusions. A number of administrative datasets collect information on blood transfusion including quantity and timing. Linkage of multiple datasources has the potential to give increase the depth of information available for researchers. This study aims to describe the linkage of four administrative datasets to identify transfusions among women giving birth in NSW and to describe the population represented by this linked data. Hospital, birth, blood issue and blood pack databases were linked to identify women receiving red blood cell transfusions in NSW between July 2006 and December 2010. Characteristics of the linked data population are compared with the population of all women giving birth, and births in public hospitals. Between July 2006-December 2010 there were 425,036 births in NSW hospitals, including 235,796 in a population with additional blood issue data available, of which, 4642(2%) received a transfusion. Hospitals supplying blood issue data were more likely to be larger urban or tertiary hospitals, and had a higher risk population than the state overall and public hospitals generally. Linkage of multiple data sources provides additional detail compared with hospital data alone, providing a wealth of data for researchers. The population identified through linkage differs from the overall birthing population, and to a lesser extent from women birthing in public hospitals. In some cases this may affect generalisability of research findings, but in other cases may be beneficial.