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Identifying and Definitional Attributes
QH 041941 v2
Data Element
Data Element
Draft
10-Sep-2019
Current
16-Mar-2021
Standard
Information Management Strategic Governance Committee (IMSGC), Queensland Health
01-Jul-2019
A person's current relationship status in terms of a couple relationship or, for those not in a couple relationship, the existence of a current or previous registered marriage.
HBCIS hospitals
Marital status (HBCIS)
Representational Attributes
Alphabetic
Code
A
1
1
Permissible Values

Permissible_values

CodeDescription
ASeparated
DDivorced
FDefacto
MMarried
NMNever married
WWidowed
Supplementary Values

Supplemenary_values

CodeDescription
NNot stated
Collection and Usage Attributes
Refers to the current marital status of a person.

Code A Separated
A person who is a partner in a registered or de facto marriage, but considers themselves to be no longer in a relationship and has not yet divorced. This code refers to registered marriages but when self-reported may also refer to de facto relationships.

Code F De facto
This code refers to a relationship where the persons are not legally married to each other and they have a relationship as a couple living together on a genuine domestic basis.

Code M Married
Defined as whether a person has, or has had, a registered marriage. Includes people who have been divorced or widowed but have since re-married and should be generally accepted as applicable to all married couples, including of the same sex.

Code W Widowed
A person whose spouse in a registered or de facto marriage has died and who has not remarried. This code usually refers to registered marriages but when self-reported may also refer to de facto relationships.
This metadata item collects information on social marital status. The recommended question is:

Do you/Does the person usually live with a partner in a registered or de facto marriage?
Yes, in a registered marriage
Yes, in a de facto marriage
No, never married
No, separated
No, divorced
No, widowed

For HBCIS hospitals this data element is mapped to the Person-marital status (reporting) data element as follows:
Code A Separated is mapped to code 5 Separated.
Code D Divorced is mapped to code 4 Divorced.
Code F De facto is mapped to code 2 Married (registered or defacto).
Code M Married is mapped to code 2 Married (registered or defacto).
Code NM Never married is mapped to code 1 Never married.
Code W Widowed is mapped to code 3 Widowed.
Code N Not stated is mapped to code 9 Not stated/unknown.
The ABS standards identify two concepts of marital status:
- Registered marital status - defined as whether a person has, or has had, a registered marriage;
- Social marital status - based on a person's living arrangement (including de facto marriages), as reported by the person.
It is recommended that the social marital status concept be collected when information on social support/home arrangements is sought, whereas the registered marital status concept need only be collected where it is specifically required for the purposes of the collection.
While marital status is an important factor in assessing the type and extent of support needs, such as for the elderly living in the home environment, marital status does not adequately address the need for information about social support and living arrangement and other data elements need to be formulated to capture this information.
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References

Related Metadata References_IR

  • 1 - 2
ViewRelationshipMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifier & VersionApproval Status
SupersedesData ElementData ElementPerson-marital status (HBCIS)QH 041941 Version 1Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementData ElementPerson-marital status (reporting)QH 042976 Version 1Current
Implementation in Metadata Sets

Implemented

No Metadata Items
Source and Reference Attributes
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
METeOR data element: Person-marital status, Identifier 291045, Health standard 04/05/2005 https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/291045/meteorItemView/long