CMAJ open
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The Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) previously carried out a validation study of case definitions for 8 chronic diseases (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoarthritis, depression, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, parkinsonism and epilepsy) using direct review of "raw" electronic medical record data. Although effective, this method is time-consuming and can present methodological and organizational challenges. We aimed to determine whether the processed and standardized data contained with the CPCSSN database might function as a reference standard for case definition validation. ⋯ The use of CPCSSN records as the reference standard to validate case definitions substantially reduces the burden on sentinel physicians and clinic managers as well as on researchers while offering a reference standard that is a reasonable substitution for chart review.