Document 2344
 DOCN  M94A2344
 TI    Under-reporting of AIDS cases in British Columbia. Vancouver
       Lymphadenopathy-AIDS Study (VLAS).
 DT    9412
 AU    Le TN; Strathdee SA; Craib KJ; Hogg RS; Devlin B; Montaner JS; Schechter
       MT; BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, Canada.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):325 (abstract no. PC0230). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94370231
 AB    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the degree and the determinants of
       under-reporting of AIDS cases in the British Columbia AIDS Registry
       (BCAR). METHODS: A manual record linkage was conducted with the BCAR to
       confirm existing AIDS cases and to identify cases among those lost to
       follow-up in the Vancouver Lymphadenopathy AIDS Study (VLAS). First and
       last initials and birth date were compared between a total of 1579 AIDS
       cases in the BCAR and 1000 members of the VLAS. Only exact matches were
       considered. To avoid attributing reporting delays to under-reporting,
       only cases reported prior to December 31, 1992 were included. Unreported
       vs. reported cases were compared in terms of year of diagnosis,
       AIDS-defining illness, and socio-economic characteristics. RESULTS: Of
       228 cases which had been reported to the VLAS through study physicians
       or previous linkages, 8 had been diagnosed in other provinces and 1 in
       the U.S. Of the remaining 219 BCAR-eligible cases, 193 (88%) were
       identified in the BCAR. The under-reporting rates were 10%, 5%, 14%,
       12%, 12%, and 16% from 1987 to 1992 respectively. Under-reporting did
       not vary significantly by year or interval of diagnosis (p = 0.61).
       Although the annual under-reporting rate increased between 1982 and
       1992, this trend was not statistically significant (p = 0.30). Reported
       and unreported cases were similar with respect to age at AIDS diagnosis
       (p = 0.84), annual income at enrolment (p = 1.0), education (p = 0.34),
       and the distribution of primary AIDS diagnoses (i.e. KS, PCP, other OIs)
       (p = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: The estimated rate of under-reporting in the
       VLAS was 16% in 1992, and 12% overall for 1982-92. This cohort study is
       conducted in an urban AIDS tertiary facility by family practitioners
       with considerable experience in the management of patients with HIV.
       Thus, underreporting rates are likely higher outside the context of this
       study. Since the rate of under-reporting does not appear to be
       declining, efforts to improve AIDS case reporting should be augmented.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  British
       Columbia/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Cohort Studies  Human  HIV Seroprevalence/*TRENDS
       Medical Record Linkage  *Population Surveillance  Registries/*STATISTICS
       & NUMER DATA  MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
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