PURPOSE: To determine the reliability of the recording of cerebral palsy (CP) risk factors in birth certificates, hospital discharge abstracts, and maternal interviews. METHODS: Responses to a maternal interview previously given in the Origins, Wellness, and Life-History (OWL) in Cerebral Palsy case-control study were used to compare with responses recorded in birth certificates and hospital discharge abstracts in regards to CP risk factors. The PROC FREQ command in SAS version 9.4 was used to calculate the kappa statistic for agreement among the three data sources. RESULTS: The level of agreement differed greatly by variable. Agreement was especially high between birth certificates and discharge abstracts for the method of delivery variables, with a kappa value of at least 0.98 for each method. Agreement between these two data sources was also perfect for maternal smoking. Agreement was highest between maternal interviews and discharge abstracts for assisted ventilation and neonatal seizures, with kappa values reflecting substantial and moderate agreement, respectively. CONCLUSION: This reliability study demonstrates that more care should be taken by medical staff when recording events occurring before and during labor and delivery. Better recording of abnormal perinatal events would benefit future research in understanding CP.
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