Population differences in completeness and reliability of Dutch COVID-19 registry data: The influence of testing policy, test readiness, and registration policy from an epidemiological perspective

Babette van Deursen; Ester A L de Jonge

doi:10.1007/s12508-023-00377-y

Population differences in completeness and reliability of Dutch COVID-19 registry data: The influence of testing policy, test readiness, and registration policy from an epidemiological perspective

TSG. 2023;101(2):63-67. doi: 10.1007/s12508-023-00377-y. Epub 2023 Mar 3.

Authors

Babette van Deursen^{1

2}, Ester A L de Jonge^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Disease Control, Municipal Health Service (GGD) Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
² Team Information, Registration & Research, Municipal Health Service (GGD) Utrecht region, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
³ cluster Direction, Research & Consulting, Municipal Health Service (GGD) South-Holland South, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
⁴ Centre of Expertise Health Innovation, Lectorate Data Science, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the bidirectional relationship between policy and data reliability has been a challenge for researchers of the local municipal health services. Policy decisions on population specific test locations and selective registration of negative test results led to population differences in data quality. This hampered the calculation of reliable population specific infection rates needed to develop proper data driven public health policy.

Keywords: COVID-19 registration; Data driven policy; Data quality; Population differences.