Evaluation on quality of notifiable communicable diseases network direct reporting and discussion about evaluation indicators in China, 2009

Objective To evaluate the quality of notifiable communicable diseases network direct reporting in China (except Hong Kong, Macao SARs and Taiwan area) in 2009 and discuss the evaluation indicators. Methods All the notifiable communicable diseases reporting cards from 1 January to 31 December 2009 (excluding those deleted) were analyzed with SAS 9.1 software to understand the monthly/yearly zero/miss reporting rates in counties (district), timeliness and accuracy of reporting. Results A total of 6 487 969 notifiable communicable diseases cards were reported from 67 671 medical institutions in China in 2009. The monthly average zero reporting rate was 1.65%, which was mainly found in western China. The timely reporting rate was 98.09%, the median of the interval between diagnosis and reporting was 0.86 day. The timely verifying rate was 99.69%, the median of interval between reporting and verifying was 0.10 day. The timely reporting rate of class A communicable diseases (including those managed as class A communicable diseases) was low, the monthly average re-reporting rate was 0.02%. The proportion of reporting cards with errors declined significantly compared with 2008. Conclusion The quality of notifiable communicable diseases network direct reporting was further improved in China in 2009 The government at all level should strengthen the financial support to the direct network reporting system of notifable communicable diseases, especially in western China, The reporting of class A communicable diseases (or managed as class A communicable diseases) and chronic communicable diseases reporting and its management should be strengthened. The evaluation of reporting quality should be combined with field survey, and the evaluation indicator system should be improved.