Deletion of reporting cards for viral hepatitis B in Tianjin, 2013–2018

ObjectiveTo understand the reasons for the deletion of reporting cards for viral hepatitis B in Tianjin during 2013–2018, find out the existing problems and provide evidence for the standardized reporting of hepatitis B in the future.

MethodsThe information about all hepatitis cases reported in Tianjin from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2018 were collected from “Communicable Disease Information Reporting and Management System" for descriptive epidemiological analysis to understand the deletion rate of reporting cards for hepatitis B and the reasons and the deleted reasons’ distribution in different type hospitals, hepatitis B type classifications and institutions.

ResultsThere were 17 983 reporting cards for hepatitis B, including 2 429 deleted reporting cards, in Tianjin during 2013–2018, the deletion rate was 13.51%. The repeated reporting was responsible for 47.06% in deleted reporting cards, followed by non-conformance with diagnostic criteria (30.34%), non-conformance with reporting standards (15.31%) and others (7.29%); The rates of repeated cards, non-conformance with reporting standard and non-conformance with the diagnostic criteria were significantly higher in unclassified hepatitis B cases than those in acute hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis B cases (P＜0.05); The rates of non-conformance with reporting standards and other reasons in hospitals were significantly higher than those in three types of Centers for Disease Control related institutions.

ConclusionThe main reasons for the deletion of reporting cards for hepatitis B in Tianjin mainly included repeated reporting, non-conformance with reporting standards and non-conformance with diagnostic criteria. However there were a few reporting cards with unspecific deletion reasons. It is necessary to further standardize hepatitis B diagnosis reporting and the deletion reason filling to improve the quality of surveillance.