Identifying reproductive-aged women with physical and sensory disabilities in administrative health data: A systematic review.

Only 6 studies and 2 unique algorithms were included, so the evidence base is narrow. All included studies were from the United States, and most used Medicaid or Medicare data, so results may not apply to other health systems. Not all studies validated their algorithms; the Khoury algorithm was checked only by expert review of codes, with no accuracy numbers. The ARCS validation used self-report surveys with a 13% response rate and missing data, which weakens confidence in the comparison. All but two of the included studies looked for disability codes within the previous year, and other samples used 1, 2, or 4.5 years or delivery records, so disabilities diagnosed in childhood and not re-coded later may be missed. The review excluded studies using only the US Social Security Administration definition and studies that did not use the search terms, so some relevant algorithms may have been missed.

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that administrative health data can reliably identify women with physical or sensory disabilities. Only one algorithm was checked against self-reported disability, and it still misclassified many people; the other algorithm was not formally validated.