J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2005 Aug;16(4):481-485.

Methodological Assessment of Medical Records Reviews in Articles in the Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine

• Jeong H
• Yu TY
• Jin Y
• Jeong TO
• Lee JB

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to enhance the quality of data by performing a methodological assessment of medical records reviews.
METHODS
We reviewed the articles published in the Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine between January 2001 and December 2003 that used a retrospective medical records review as the study method. We assessed data collector's training, descriptions of inclusion/ exclusion criteria, definitions of important variables, use of standardized case record forms, monitoring the data collectors' performance, blind data collecting, inter-rater reliability/ test of inter-rater agreement, intra-rater reliability/test of intra-rater agreement, selection bias from consent, and rules regarding management of missing data.
RESULTS
There were 111 articles that used retrospective medical records reviews during the study period. In 111 (100%) articles, inclusion/exclusion criteria were described, in 98 (88.3%), important variables were defined, and in 4 (3.6%), standardized case record forms were used. However no articles addressed the other items on the checklist.
CONCLUSION
Study conductors should design studies to enhance the quality of data, and detailed descriptions are necessary to improve the reproducibility of the study.

Keyword

Medical records; Retrospective studies; Methodology

MeSH Terms

Checklist
Emergencies*
Emergency Medicine*
Medical Records*
Retrospective Studies
Selection Bias