Table 3: Validity of coding for hypertension in the Discharge Abstract Database*
Year; variableSensitivity, %
(95% CI)
Specificity, %
(95% CI)
Positive predictive value, %
(95% CI)
Negative predictive value, %
(95% CI)
κ(95% CI)
200282.2 (79.9-84.5)79.6 (76.9-82.3)83.6 (81.3-85.8)78.0 (75.3-80.7)0.62 (0.59-0.64)
200374.6 (72.5-76.7)79.8 (77.3-82.3)85.9 (84.1-87.7)65.5 (62.9-68.2)0.52 (0.50-0.54)
200477.1 (75.1-79.1)78.1 (75.6-80.6)84.4 (82.6-86.3)68.9 (66.3-71.5)0.54 (0.52-0.56)
200575.5 (73.5-77.6)80.9 (78.4-83.3)87.0 (85.3-88.7)66.1 (63.4-68.7)0.54 (0.52-0.56)
200679.5 (77.5-81.5)78.8 (76.3-81.3)85.0 (83.2-86.9)71.7 (69.1-74.4)0.57 (0.55-0.60)
200778.5 (76.4-80.6)71.9 (69.1-74.6)80.5 (78.4-82.5)69.3 (66.5-72.1)0.50 (0.48-0.52)
200880.0 (77.9-82.0)74.0 (71.3-76.7)81.9 (79.9-83.9)71.5 (68.7-74.3)0.54 (0.51-0.56)
200979.3 (77.2-81.4)74.5 (71.7-77.2)81.9 (79.9-84.0)71.1 (68.3-73.8)0.53 (0.51-0.56)
201081.8 (79.8-83.7)72.1 (69.3-74.8)81.2 (79.2-83.1)72.9 (70.1-75.6)0.54 (0.52-0.56)
201180.8 (78.8-82.9)71.2 (68.4-73.9)79.4 (77.3-81.4)73.0 (70.3-75.7)0.52 (0.50-0.55)
201282.5 (80.6-84.4)71.0 (68.3-73.7)79.8 (77.8-81.7)74.5 (71.9-77.1)0.54 (0.52-0.56)
201379.8 (77.8-81.8)71.9 (69.3-74.5)79.3 (77.3-81.3)72.5 (70.0-75.1)0.52 (0.49-0.54)
Age, yr18-6476.9 (73.9-79.9)77.6 (74.6-80.5)76.8 (73.8-79.8)77.7 (74.7-80.6)0.54 (0.52-0.57)
≥ 6582.4 (79.8-85.0)60.8 (56.0-65.7)81.5 (78.8-84.1)62.3 (57.4-67.1)0.43 (0.40-0.47)
SexMale79.2 (76.8-81.6)72.1 (69.1-75.2)78.4 (76.0-80.9)73.1 (70.1-76.1)0.51 (0.49-0.54)
Female81.1 (77.6-84.6)71.3 (66.3-76.3)81.2 (77.7-84.6)71.2 (66.2-76.1)0.52 (0.48-0.57)
CityCalgary76.3 (73.0-79.7)70.1 (66.0-74.1)76.8 (73.5-80.1)69.6 (65.5-73.6)0.46 (0.43-0.50)
Edmonton86.5 (84.0-89.0)71.5 (67.8-75.2)79.0 (76.2-81.9)81.0 (77.6-84.4)0.59 (0.55-0.62)

Note: CI = confidence interval.

*With the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease database as the reference standard.