Question about Elixhauser and Charlson comorbidities

[Liang Wang Jack]

Hi all,

The command for getting Elixhauser comorbidities and Charlson comorbidities are

elixhauser

charlson

I have four kinds of data,

Medicare inpatient,
Medicare outpatient,
Medicaid inpatient,
Medicaid outpatient,

Which one can I use to calculate Elixhauser comorbidities and Charlson comorbidities?

Thanks,

Jack Liang

[Weiwen Ng]

Hi all,

The command for getting Elixhauser comorbidities and Charlson comorbidities are

elixhauser

charlson

I have four kinds of data,

Medicare inpatient,
Medicare outpatient,
Medicaid inpatient,
Medicaid outpatient,

Which one can I use to calculate Elixhauser comorbidities and Charlson comorbidities?

Thanks,

Jack Liang

In principle, all the data would have fields for ICD-9 or -10 diagnosis codes. I don't recall if either index requires a look at the inpatient file - for example, in the Chronic Conditions Warehouse, I believe that acute myocardial infarction (AMI, aka heart attack) requires an inpatient diagnosis - but I don't think this is the case. If not, then you can use any one of the files you mentioned. For most questions, I would personally use both inpatient and outpatient data if you have it.

[Liang Wang Jack]

In principle, all the data would have fields for ICD-9 or -10 diagnosis codes. I don't recall if either index requires a look at the inpatient file - for example, in the Chronic Conditions Warehouse, I believe that acute myocardial infarction (AMI, aka heart attack) requires an inpatient diagnosis - but I don't think this is the case. If not, then you can use any one of the files you mentioned. For most questions, I would personally use both inpatient and outpatient data if you have it.

Thank you for your answer. How about Charlson indices? Which dataset can I use? Thanks.

[Weiwen Ng]

Thank you for your answer. How about Charlson indices? Which dataset can I use? Thanks.

I wasn’t clear: you can use any one of those datasets to construct either index. It is better to combine inpatient and outpatient data. If you somehow have access to both Medicare and Medicaid data, you need to be aware that some people are eligible for both (and you may be able to link their records).