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Three datasets are better than one! Alcohol related diagnoses from ambulance to hospital admission, Melbourne, Australia. Sharon Matthews Jason Ferris Belinda Lloyd. Background. Routine monitoring plays a significant role in the development of responsive policy, prevention and intervention
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Three datasets are better than one! Alcohol related diagnoses from ambulance to hospital admission, Melbourne, Australia Sharon Matthews Jason Ferris Belinda Lloyd
Background • Routine monitoring plays a significant role in the development of responsive policy, prevention and intervention • Need to explore innovative methods to understand and respond to alcohol and drug related harms
Aims • To use linked data to explore the diagnostic path from an alcohol related ambulance attendance to emergency and hospital admission in Melbourne , Australia between 2004/05 – 2008/09
Methods Data • Alcohol related ambulance attendances • Victorian emergency department admissions (VEMD) • Victorian hospital admissions (VAED) • 2004/05 – 2008/09 Linked data : Ambulance ED Hospital admission
Ambulance Attendances • Ambo Project database 1998 - present • Additional coding of Ambulance Victoria Patient Care Records (electronic from 2006) to identify alcohol and other drug related attendances • 17885 alcohol only cases 2004/05 to 2008/09
Emergency Department Presentations • Victorian Emergency Minimum dataset (VEMD) • Detailed demographic, clinical and administrative information on all presentations to Victorian public hospitals with 24/7 ED
Hospital Admissions • Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) • Acute hospital separations (public, private, denominational hospitals) • Principal diagnosis using ICD10 classification • 2004/05 – 2008/09
Staged linkage – using: • Ambulance case number • Ambulance case date (time/date stamp) Validated using: • Patient age • Patient gender • Hospital • Time between attendance and ED (<2 hours) Outcome –63,156 linked records = 90.3% patients transported to ED (any AOD involvement)
Alcohol intoxication attendances coded in ED presentations (%)
Alcohol intoxication attendances coded in hospital admissions (%)
Limitations • Data are not collected for research purposes • Coding practices can change over time • Some missing cases
Summary • Increase in older patients – particularly 60 years and over • Less than half of acutely alcohol intoxicated patients have AOD principal diagnosis in ED or hospital • Single dataset usage provides an incomplete picture resulting in underestimation of the role of alcohol in cases • Increase in external causes for acutely intoxicated patients – particularly head injuries
Utility of linkage • Use of multiple data sources necessary to examine and respond to AOD harms • Enhanced models to estimate AOD burden • Provide an evidence base regarding the nature of AOD presentations in settings where data are not routinely available • Monitor outcomes following intervention • Contribute to policy and intervention across acute, treatment and other settings
Acknowledgements • Funded by Victorian Department of Health • VEMD and VAED data provided by the Victorian Department of Health • Ambulance data derived from the Ambo Project – a collaborative project between Turning Point and Ambulance Victoria, and funded by the Victorian Department of Health • Thanks to project team
Sharon Matthews Research Fellow Population Health Research PhD Candidate Monash University T: +61 3 9412 9957 sharonm@turningpoint.org.au