IngentaConnect Which are the best identifiers for record linkage?

Authors: Catherine Quantin; Christine Binquet; Karima Bourquard; Ronny Pattisina; Béatrice Gouyon-Cornet; Cyril Ferdynus; Jean-Bernard Gouyon; François-André Allaert

Source: Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine, Volume 29, Numbers 3-4, Numbers 3-4/September-December 2004 , pp. 221-227(7)

Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd

Abstract:

As a linkage using less informative identifiers could lead to linkage errors, it is essential to quantify the information associated to each identifier. The aim of this study was to estimate the discriminating power of different identifiers susceptible to be used in a record linkage process. This work showed the interest of three identifiers when linking data concerning a same patient using an automatic procedure based on the method proposed by Jaro; the date of birth, the first and the last names seemed to be the more appropriate identifiers. Including a poorly discriminating identifier like gender did not improve the results. Moreover, adding a second christian name, often missing, increased linkage errors. On the contrary, it seemed that using a phonetic treatment adapted to the French language could improve the results of linkage in comparison to the Soundex. However, whatever, the method used it seems necessary to improve the quality of identifier collection as it could greatly influence linkage results.

Keywords: Probabilistic record linkage; Patient identifiers; Match weights; Confidentiality

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/14639230400005974

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