Background: Japan Congenital Cardiovascluar Surgical Database (JCCVSD) is a nationwide registry whose data are used for health quality assessment and clinical research in Japan. We evaluated the completeness of case registration and the accuracy of recorded data components including postprocedural mortality and complications in the database via on-site data adjudication.
Methods: We validated the records from JCCVSD 2010 to 2012 containing congenital cardiovascular surgery data performed in 111 facilities throughout Japan. We randomly chose nine facilities for site visit by the auditor team and conducted on-site data adjudication. We assessed whether the records in JCCVSD matched the data in the source materials.
Results: We identified 1,928 cases of eligible surgeries performed at the facilities, of which 1,910 were registered (99.1% completeness), with 6 cases of duplication and 1 inappropriate case registration. Data components including gender, age, and surgery time (hours) were highly accurate with 98% to 100% concordance. Mortality at discharge and at 30 and 90 postoperative days was 100% accurate. Among the five complications studied, reoperation was the most frequently observed, with 16 and 21 cases recorded in the database and source materials, respectively, having a sensitivity of 0.67 and a specificity of 0.99.
Conclusions: Validation of JCCVSD database showed high registration completeness and high accuracy especially in the categorical data components. Adjudicated mortality was 100% accurate. While limited in numbers, the recorded cases of postoperative complications all had high specificities but had lower sensitivity (0.67-1.00). Continued activities for data quality improvement and assessment are necessary for optimizing the utility of these registries.
Keywords: complications; congenital heart surgery; registry; validation.