Multi-site medical record review for validation of intentional self-harm coding in emergency departments

BACKGROUND: Codes in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), are used for injury surveillance, including surveillance of intentional self-harm, as they appear in administrative billing records. This study estimated the positive predictive value of ICD-10-CM codes for intentional self-harm in emergency department (ED) billing records for patients aged 10 years and older who did not die and were not admitted to an inpatient medical service. METHODS: The study team in Maryland, Colorado, and Massachusetts selected all or a random sample of ED billing records with an ICD-10-CM code for intentional self-harm (specific codes that began with X71-X83, T36-T65, T71, T14.91). Positive predictive value (PPV) was determined by the number and percentage of records with a physician diagnosis of intentional self-harm, based on a retrospective review of the original medical record. RESULTS: The estimated PPV for the codes’ capture of intentional self-harm based on physician diagnosis in the original medical record was 89.8% (95% CI 85.0–93.4) for Maryland records, 91.9% (95% CI 87.7–95.0) for Colorado records, and 97.3% (95% CI 95.1–98.7) for Massachusetts records. CONCLUSION: Given the high PPV of the codes, epidemiologists can use the codes for public health surveillance of intentional self-harm treated in the ED using ICD-10-CM coded administrative billing records. However, these codes and related variables in the billing database cannot definitively distinguish between suicidal and non-suicidal intentional self-harm. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40621-022-00380-y.