Rob van Hest Capture-recapture Methods in Surveillance - RePub ...
Rob van Hest Capture-recapture Methods in Surveillance - RePub ...
Rob van Hest Capture-recapture Methods in Surveillance - RePub ...
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Underreport<strong>in</strong>g of tuberculosis <strong>in</strong> the Netherlands<br />
Figure 6.2 Schematic view of the distribution of observed number of tuberculosis<br />
patients <strong>in</strong> the Netherlands <strong>in</strong> 1998, after record-l<strong>in</strong>kage of three tuberculosis registers<br />
(light grey = culture-positive), and the number of validated tuberculosis patients among<br />
the culture-negative cases (dark grey = Netherlands Tuberculosis Register; white =<br />
Pathological Anatomy Laboratory Computerised Archive).<br />
Discussion<br />
Ma<strong>in</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
This study shows that, even <strong>in</strong> a country with a well-organised system of tuberculosis<br />
control, record-l<strong>in</strong>kage and cross-validation improve the data quality of tuberculosis<br />
registration and case-ascerta<strong>in</strong>ment. These f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs underscore the need for scrut<strong>in</strong>y of all<br />
tuberculosis registers, especially with regard to hospital-based data. Total and verified<br />
observed under-notification of tuberculosis <strong>in</strong> the Netherlands <strong>in</strong> 1998 was 13.4% and<br />
10.1% respectively. The latter was slightly higher than a previously reported under-<br />
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