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Data Element Detail

Person-date of birth
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
QH 040163 v3
Data Element
Data Element
Current
20-Oct-2008		Superseded
28-May-2014
Standard
20-Oct-2008
28-May-2014
The date of birth of the person.
Clinical and administrative purposes and individual identification.
Date of birth
Health care client-date of birth
Representational Attributes
Numeric Character
Date
DDMMYYYY
8
8
Permissible Values

Permissible_values

Valid date
Supplementary Values

Supplemenary_values

-
Collection and Usage Attributes
Record the date of birth of the person using the full date (ie. DDMMYYYY) and leading zeros where necessary.

An unknown date of birth should be recorded as 15/06/1900
If the day of birth is unknown, use 15
If the month of birth is unknown, use 06
If the year of birth is unknown and is unable to be estimated, use 1900

Estimated dates of birth should be identified by an appropriate estimated date flag to prevent inappropriate use of date of birth data for record identification and/or the derivation of other data elements that require accurate date of birth information.

For data collections concerned with children's services, it is suggested that the estimated date of birth of children aged under 2 years should be reported to the nearest 3 month period, i.e. 0101, 0104, 0107, 0110 of the estimated year of birth. For example, a child who is thought to be aged 18 months in October of one year would have his/her estimated date of birth reported as 0104 of the previous year. Again, an estimated date flag or date accuracy indicator should be reported in conjunction with all estimated dates of birth.

Although provision is made for recording an unknown date of birth every effort should be made to determine and record the person's actual date of birth.
In data collections that also record Date of death for the same client, Date of birth must be less than or equal to Date of death.
Information on Date of birth can be collected using the one question:
What is your / (the person's) date of birth? In self-reported data collections, it is recommended that the following response format is used:
Date of birth: _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _
This enables easy conversion to the preferred representational layout (DDMMYYYY).

The linking of client records from diverse sources, the sharing of client data, and data analysis for research and planning all rely heavily on the accuracy and integrity of the collected data. In order to maintain data integrity and the greatest possible accuracy an indication of the accuracy of the date collected is critical. For this reason it is strongly recommended that the data element 'Estimated date of birth flag' also be recorded at the time of record creation to flag the accuracy of the data.

HBCIS:
- If the day of birth is unknown, use **
- If the month of birth is unknown, use **
- If the year of birth is unknown, estimate the year from the age of the patient
- If the age of the patient is unknown and it is not possible to estimate an age and hence a year of birth (e.g. for unconscious patients, use the year 1900)

Although provision is made for recording an unknown date of birth (using **/**/1900), every effort should be made during the course of the admission to determine (and record) the patient's actual date of birth. The patient's date of birth is an important requirement for the correct identification of the individual and the accurate assignment of a Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) at a later date.
Date of birth enables derivation of age for use in demographic analyses, assists in the unique identification of clients if other identifying information is missing or in question, and may be required for the derivation of other data elements (e.g. Diagnosis related group for admitted patients). Privacy issues need to be taken account in asking clients their date of birth. Wherever possible and wherever appropriate, Date of birth should be used rather than Age because the actual date of birth allows more precise calculation of age. NHDD specific: DSS Cardiovascular disease (clinical) Age is an important non-modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular conditions. The prevalence of cardiovascular conditions increases dramatically with age. For example, more than 60% of people aged 75 and over had a cardiovascular condition in 1995 compared with less than 9% of those aged under 35. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more likely to have cardiovascular conditions than other Australians across almost all age groups. For example, in the 25-44 age group, 23% of Indigenous Australians reported cardiovascular conditions compared with 16% among other Australians (Heart, Stroke and Vascular Diseases: Australian Facts 2001. AIHW). Other references: AS5017 Health Care Client Identification, 2006, Sydney: Standards Australia AS4846 Health Care Provider Identification, 2006, Sydney: Standards Australia
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References

Related Metadata References_IR

  • 1 - 8
ViewRelationshipMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifier & VersionApproval Status
SupersedesData ElementData ElementDate of birthQH 040163 Version 2Superseded
Has been superseded byData ElementData ElementPerson-date of birthQH 040163 Version 4Current
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementData ElementEpisode of admitted patient care-diagnosis related group (AR-DRG v6.0)QH 041587 Version 5Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementData ElementEpisode of admitted patient care-diagnosis related group (AR-DRG v6.0x)QH 041587 Version 6Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementData ElementEpisode of admitted patient care-major diagnostic category (AR-DRG v6.0)QH 041588 Version 5Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementData ElementEpisode of admitted patient care-major diagnostic category (AR-DRG v6.0x)QH 041588 Version 6Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementDerived Data ElementEpisode of admitted patient care-diagnosis related group (AR-DRG v7.0)QH 041587 Version 7Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementDerived Data ElementEpisode of admitted patient care-major diagnostic category (AR-DRG v7.0)QH 041588 Version 7Superseded
Implementation in Metadata Sets

Implemented

  • 1 - 5
ViewMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifer & VersionObligationApproval StatusEffective FromEffective To
Information AssetData CollectionElective Surgery Data Collection (ESDC)QH 020110 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2014
Information AssetData CollectionEmergency Data Collection (EDC)QH 020159 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2014
Information AssetData CollectionQueensland Cancer Registry (QCR) Data CollectionQH 020002 Version 1Superseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2014
Information AssetData CollectionQueensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC)QH 020001 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2014
Information AssetData CollectionQueensland Perinatal Data Collection (QPDC)QH 020003 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2014
Source and Reference Attributes
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
METeOR data element: Person-date of birth, Identifier 287007, Health standard 04/05/2005 https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/287007/meteorItemView/long
Date of birth;