The Validation Of Covid-19 information In The Pharmacoepidemiological
Research Database for Public Health System by vaccination status
Abstract
Purpose To validate Covid-19 information records in The
Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database for Public Health System
(BIFAP), commonly used for pharmacoepidemiological research in Spain.
Methods The recorded Covid-19 cases in primary care (PC) or
positive test registries (gold-standard) were identified among
vaccinated patients against SARS-CoV-2 infection of any age. They were
matched with unvaccinated controls by birth year, vaccination date,
region, and sex, between December 2020-October 2021. The sensitivity
(SE), specificity (SP), positive (PPV), negative (NPV) predictive
values, and date accurateness were estimated for PC by vaccination
status and age brands. Results Among 21,702 patients with
positive tests and 20,866 with recorded Covid-19 diagnoses, the SE, SP,
PPV, and NPV were, respectively, 79.98%, 99.95%, 80.24% and 99.94%
among vaccinated, and 78.67%, 99.96%, 84.51% and 99.94% among
controls. For those aged ≥70 years old, SE (71.15-72.85%) was lower
while PPV (84.68-88.04%) was higher compared to <70 years old
participants. 94.12% of the total true positive cases (N=17,191) were
recorded within ±5 days from the date of the test result.
Conclusions PC Covid-19 diagnosis recorded in BIFAP showed high
validation parameters. SE was similar and PPV was slightly lower among
vaccinated than unvaccinated controls. Correction of vaccines
effectiveness estimates by such misclassification is recommended. Data
shows the influence of age. Among the elderly, Covid-19 diagnosis was
less recorded but when recorded is more accurate than among younger
patients. These findings permit the design of informed algorithms for
performing Covid-19-related research.