Suitability of administrative claims databases for bariatric surgery research – is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Li, Xiaojuan; Lewis, Kristina H.; Callaway, Katherine; Wharam, J. Frank; Toh, Sengwee

doi:10.1186/s12874-020-01106-8

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 29,357 patients who received a bariatric surgical operation, 2011–2018 (Cohort 1)

From: Suitability of administrative claims databases for bariatric surgery research – is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Characteristics	Overall		AGB		RYGB		SG
Characteristics	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
N (%)	29,357	100	2941	10.0	9445	32.2	16,971	57.8
Age, year
Mean (SD)	47.0	12.3	45.6	12.4	48.7	12.4	46.3	12.1
Median (IQR)	47	38–56	45	36–55	49	40–58	46	37–55
18–44	12,857	43.8	1444	49.1	3596	38.1	7817	46.1
45–64	13,898	47.3	1256	42.7	4817	51.0	7825	46.1
≥ 65	2602	8.9	241	8.2	1032	10.9	1329	7.8
Female sex	22,171	75.5	2248	76.4	7108	75.3	12,815	75.5
Race/ethnicity
Asian	367	1.3	41	1.4	118	1.2	208	1.2
Black	4960	16.9	493	16.8	1495	15.8	2972	17.5
Hispanic	3484	11.9	367	12.5	1015	10.7	2102	12.4
White	19,661	67.0	1972	67.1	6548	69.3	11,141	65.6
Missing	885	3.0	68	2.3	269	2.8	548	3.2
Commercial insurance	23,428	79.8	2508	85.3	6967	73.8	13,953	82.2
Region
Northeast	3545	12.1	386	13.1	1013	10.7	2146	12.6
Midwest	6491	22.1	506	17.2	2523	26.7	3462	20.4
South	15,391	52.4	1678	57.1	4572	48.4	9141	53.9
West	3930	13.4	371	12.6	1337	14.2	2222	13.1
Year of index operation
2011	4267	14.5	1286	43.7	1849	19.6	1132	6.7
2012	3351	11.4	690	23.5	1349	14.3	1312	7.7
2013	3816	13.0	428	14.6	1284	13.6	2104	12.4
2014	3605	12.3	255	8.7	1089	11.5	2261	13.3
2015	3761	12.8	134	4.6	1060	11.2	2567	15.1
2016	4088	13.9	81	2.8	1081	11.4	2926	17.2
2017	4493	15.3	50	1.7	1169	12.4	3274	19.3
2018	1976	6.7	17	0.6	564	6.0	1395	8.2
Last BMI before operation, kg/m^{2 a}
Mean (SD)	46.1	9.0	44.2	7.7	46.2	9.8	46.3	8.6
Median (IQR)	44.8	40.4–50.9	42.6	39–47.5	45.6	40.6–51.8	44.5	40.6–50.7
Missing, %	25,026	85.2	2633	89.5	7918	83.8	14,475	85.3
Charlson-Elixhauser comorbidity score
Mean (SD)	1.0	1.8	0.5	1.4	1.2	2.0	0.9	1.7
Median (IQR)	1	0–2	0	0–1	1	0–2	1	0–2
≤ −1	4928	16.8	704	23.9	1401	14.8	2823	16.6
0	9134	31.1	1128	38.4	2656	28.1	5350	31.5
≥ 1	15,295	52.1	1109	37.7	5388	57.0	8798	51.8
Number of inpatient admissions during the 6 months before operation, mean (SD)	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.4	0.0	0.3
Number of inpatient hospital days in the 6 months before operation, mean (SD)	0.3	2.2	0.2	1.1	0.5	3.2	0.2	1.7
Number of inpatient hospital days for index operation, mean (SD)	2.8	2.9	0.4	0.9	3.7	3.3	2.7	2.6
Health conditions
Anxiety	9637	32.8	731	24.9	3180	33.7	5726	33.7
Deep vein thrombosis	380	1.3	22	0.7	142	1.5	216	1.3
Depression	9159	31.2	770	26.2	3269	34.6	5120	30.2
Dyslipidemia	16,232	55.3	1482	50.4	5670	60.0	9080	53.5
Eating disorder	3373	11.5	270	9.2	1212	12.8	1891	11.1
Diabetes	10,229	34.8	727	24.7	4177	44.2	5325	31.4
Hypertension	20,184	68.8	1853	63.0	6913	73.2	11,418	67.3
GERD	18,412	62.7	1607	54.6	6160	65.2	10,645	62.7
Infertility	182	0.6	13	0.4	56	0.6	113	0.7
Kidney diseases	2013	6.9	107	3.6	864	9.1	1042	6.1
NAFLD	5620	19.1	374	12.7	2069	21.9	3177	18.7
Osteoarthritis, lower limb	2262	7.7	147	5.0	739	7.8	1376	8.1
PCOS	1462	5.0	131	4.5	452	4.8	879	5.2
Psychotic disorder	1552	5.3	119	4.0	580	6.1	853	5.0
Pulmonary embolism	413	1.4	20	0.7	149	1.6	244	1.4
Substance use disorder	1388	4.7	61	2.1	445	4.7	882	5.2
Sleep apnea	16,071	54.7	1247	42.4	5448	57.7	9376	55.2
Smoker	1241	4.2	167	5.7	458	4.8	616	3.6

Abbreviations: BMI body mass index, GERD gastroesophageal reflux disease, IQR interquartile range, NAFLD non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, PCOS polycystic ovarian syndrome, SD standard deviation
^a The last BMI before operation was obtained in the electronic health records (EHR) component of the OptumLabs Data Warehouse (OLDW) for those patients who had linkage. Patients who did not have EHR linkage in the OLDW were coded as missing

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ISSN: 1471-2288

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