Data Source

Registry

Type of Study

Registry

Data gathering method

The Geriatric wards gather information about their patients and once a year they report to the database.

Conditions of access

Formal agreements (e.g. fees, research contracts, institutional agreements, etc.)

There are no formal agreements, but researchers can apply for access to the steering comittee.

Time elapsed between application and reception of data

N.A.

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)

Anonymised microdata

Formats available

SAS

Language issues

Data and documentation are in Danish.

Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes

The database was established in 1999, but during the first years, it only covered wards in the capital region. Since 2006, it covers wards throughout the entire country. In 2011, the database included 11,974 patients.

First year of collection

1999

Stratification if applicable

Information on all patients admitted to geriatric wards - currently 19 wards in total.

Base used for sampling

All patients aged 50+.

Geographical coverage and breakdowns

From 1999 to 2006, the database only covered the Capital region, but since 2006, it now covers the whole country. Data quality is dependent on how careful the different geriatric wards collect data.

Age range

50 and above

Statistical representativeness

Information on all patients admitted to geriatric wards

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics

The database focuses on functional capacity and includes the following measures: Barthel index, Body Mass Index (BMI), Timed up and go (TUG), stand up and sit down test. Furthermore, it includes a comparison of patients' measures at admission and at discharge, and how long the patients have been admitted, where they stayed before admission and where they will stay after discharge (e.g. own home, another ward, nursing home, etc.).

Further Reading

A yearly national report is available in Danish at www.sundhed.dk/.../4709_geriatriårsrapport2011.pdf

Standardisation

Barthel index, Body Mass Index (BMI), Timed up and go (TUG), stand up and sit down

Possibility of linkage among databases

N.A.

Entry errors if applicable

Not all of the wards measure all of the indicators on the different patients.

Breaks

The 2011 figures are cross validated with 2010 figures.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection

Measures are repeated each year.

Strengths: The database covers all patients aged 50+ and admitted to geriatric wards. Weaknesses: A weakness of this database is that the data quality depends on how the collection is organized at the different wards. In the documentation, there are numbers for what percentage of the patients are included in the database.