Positive predictive values of the coding for bisphosphonate therapy among cancer patients in the Danish National Patient Registry

Background The purpose of this study was to estimate the positive predictive value (PPV) of the coding for bisphosphonate treatment in selected cancer patients from the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR). Methods Through the DNPR, we identified all patients with recorded cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, kidney, and with multiple myeloma. We restricted the study sample to patients with bisphosphonate treatment recorded during an admission to Aalborg Hospital, Denmark, from 2005 through 2009. We retrieved and reviewed medical records of these patients from the initial cancer diagnosis onwards to confirm or rule out bisphosphonate therapy. We calculated the PPV of the treatment coding as the proportion of patients with confirmed bisphosphonate treatment. Results We retrieved and reviewed the medical records of 60 cancer patients with treatment codes corresponding to bisphosphonate therapy. Recorded code corresponded to treatment administered intravenously for 59 of 60 patients, corresponding to a PPV of 98.3% (95% confidence interval 92.5–99.8). In the remaining patient, bisphosphonate treatment was also confirmed but was an orally administered bisphosphonate; thus, the treatment for any bisphosphonate regardless of administration was confirmed for all 60 patients (PPV of 100%, 95% confidence interval 95.9–100.0). Conclusion The PPV of bisphosphonate treatment coding among cancer patients in the DNPR is very high and the recorded treatment nearly always corresponds to intravenous administration.