Evaluation of the utility of hospital databases to provide data in assessing the quality of strabismus surgery

Aims and backgroundRates of re-operation, which may be related to an unsatisfactory surgical outcome, can provide a long-term index of the quality of strabismus surgery. This study aims to evaluate the utility of the Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR1) in determining nature and rates of re-operation for strabismus at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC), Glasgow.MethodsSMR1 data on strabismus surgery performed on children aged between 0 and 17 years at the RHSC, Glasgow, between January 2000 and March 2009 were analysed.ResultsIn total, 1376 strabismus procedures were carried out on 1274 individuals. The median time between first and subsequent procedures was 19 months; the commonest reasons being under-correction or recurrence. The Kaplan–Meier rate of undergoing re-operation was 7.4% after 9 years with a 95% confidence interval of 5.4–9.9%.ConclusionsThe SMR1 is a useful source of hospital-based and population data. With supplementation from parallel databases, routine administrative databases like...