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Self Report Co-Morbidity and Health Related Quality of Life – A Comparison with Record Based Co-Morbidity Measures

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Abstract

The purpose of this projectwas to compare three hospital-based measures ofco-morbidity to patient self-reportco-morbidity and to determine the relativeproportion of outcome predicted by each of theco-morbidity measures in a population ofindividuals receiving major joint arthroplasty. Baseline measures using the SF-36 generalhealth questionnaire and the Western OntarioMcMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) wereobtained from 518 persons undergoing total kneeor hip replacement. A second measure wasobtained six months post-surgery. Co-morbiditywas calculated by summing the self-reportedco-morbidity at baseline, using both thechart-based and administrative data version ofCharlson's Co-morbidity Index, and by summingthe number of International Classification ofDiseases – Version 9 (ICD-9) codes appearingin the electronic health record. Linearregression was used to determine how much ofthe variation in outcome was explained by eachof the co-morbidity measurement methods. Self-report co-morbidity explained as muchvariation in outcome as the hospital-basedindices. Self-report co-morbidity did notperform as well as the other methods inexplaining the variance in health systemutilization. It was concluded that self-reportco-morbidity is minimally as useful asrecord-based systems when measuring the impactof co-morbidity on health related quality oflife (HRQL). This is an important finding, asprivacy legislation, the time until data isavailable and cost are all barriers to usingrecord-based co-morbidity measures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BC Rural and Remote Health Research Institute, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 Way, Prince George, BC, Canada, V2N 4Z9

    Donald C. Voaklander

  2. BC Rural and Remote Health Research Institute, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

    Karen D. Kelly

  3. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    C. Allyson Jones

  4. Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Maria E. Suarez-Almazor

Authors
  1. Donald C. Voaklander
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  2. Karen D. Kelly
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  3. C. Allyson Jones
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  4. Maria E. Suarez-Almazor
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Voaklander, D.C., Kelly, K.D., Jones, C.A. et al. Self Report Co-Morbidity and Health Related Quality of Life – A Comparison with Record Based Co-Morbidity Measures. Social Indicators Research 66, 213–228 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SOCI.0000003554.03290.1a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SOCI.0000003554.03290.1a

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