NCJ Number
191322
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 46 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 1126-1131
Date Published
September 2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examined the level of concordance between multiple records abstractors assigned to extract defined data elements from printed medical examiner/coroner death investigation records using manual abstraction methods, and for some data items, with the assistance of computer coding/classification systems that required initial manual abstraction of data from the record and identified data items that pose problems when records are manually abstracted.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to determine the level of agreement between multiple records abstractors who extracted defined data elements from printed medical examiner/coroner (ME/C) death investigation records; and (2) to identify data items for which improved reporting could facilitate the effective use of ME/C reports and data. Four hundred and ninety-four printed death investigation records were obtained from 224 medical examiner/coroner offices throughout the United States. Trained abstractors were asked to extract information for 110 data elements from investigative reports. The ability of multiple abstractors to identify each data element and identically abstract the data was assessed using Kappa statistical methods. Overall, the results indicated that manual abstraction of many items in ME/C records could be accomplished reliably, but that some data items posed problems for abstractors. Results also suggested that using ME/C investigative and autopsy reports for research could benefit from more standardized electronic storage of data and more standardized reporting of some troublesome variables in a more consistent hardcopy format. Tables and references