Comparison of International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision Codes With Electronic Medical Records Among Patients With Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019

IMPORTANCE: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes are used to characterize coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–related symptoms. Their accuracy is unknown, which could affect downstream analyses. OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of fever-, cough-, and dyspnea-specific ICD-10 codes with medical record review among patients tested for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study included patients who underwent quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at University of Utah Health from March 10 to April 6, 2020. Data analysis was performed in April 2020. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of ICD-10 codes for fever (R50*), cough (R05*), and dyspnea (R06.0*) were compared with manual medical record review. Performance was calculated overall and stratified by COVID-19 test result, sex, age group (<50, 50-64, and >64 years), and inpatient status. Bootstrapping was used to generate 95% CIs, and Pearson χ(2) tests were used to compare different subgroups. RESULTS: Among 2201 patients tested for COVD-19, the mean (SD) age was 42 (17) years; 1201 (55%) were female, 1569 (71%) were White, and 282 (13%) were Hispanic or Latino. The prevalence of fever was 66% (1444 patients), that of cough was 88% (1930 patients), and that of dyspnea was 64% (1399 patients). For fever, the sensitivity of ICD-10 codes was 0.26 (95% CI, 0.24-0.29), specificity was 0.98 (95% CI, 0.96-0.99), PPV was 0.96 (95% CI, 0.93-0.97), and NPV was 0.41 (95% CI, 0.39-0.43). For cough, the sensitivity of ICD-10 codes was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.42-0.46), specificity was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.84-0.92), PPV was 0.96 (95% CI, 0.95-0.97), and NPV was 0.18 (95% CI, 0.16-0.20). For dyspnea, the sensitivity of ICD-10 codes was 0.24 (95% CI, 0.22-0.26), specificity was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.96-0.98), PPV was 0.93 (95% CI, 0.90-0.96), and NPV was 0.42 (95% CI, 0.40-0.44). ICD-10 code performance was better for inpatients than for outpatients for fever (χ(2) = 41.30; P < .001) and dyspnea (χ(2) = 14.25; P = .003) but not for cough (χ(2) = 5.13; P = .16). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings suggest that ICD-10 codes lack sensitivity and have poor NPV for symptoms associated with COVID-19. This inaccuracy has implications for any downstream data model, scientific discovery, or surveillance that relies on these codes.