Validation study of randomly selected cases of PTSD diagnoses identified in a Swedish regional database compared with medical records: is the validity sufficient for epidemiological research?

摘要

In Sweden, the patients’ diagnoses are recorded in administrative registers. The research value of these registers is determined by their diagnostic validity, that is, if the diagnosis recorded meets the relevant diagnostic criteria. The aim of the study was to assess the validity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-diagnoses as compared with case notes in medical records (MRs) and to test if there was a difference in validity by gender, migration status and those with and without psychotic symptoms. We hypothesised that the validity would be sufficient, using both (DSM)-IV and DSM-5 but higher according to DSM-IV than DSM-5, and that the validity would be the same for men and women, but different for Swedish-born and migrants, and for those with and without psychotic symptoms.