A Comprehensive Evaluation and Analysis on the Quality of the Internet-based Reporting System of Infectious Diseases in Year 2005 in Baiyun District of Guangzhou

Objective To identify problems on infectious disease notification and to formulate corresponding so- lutions.Methods Data from the Internet-based Reporting System of Notifiable Infectious Disease in Year 2005 in Baiyun District were analyzed in terms of composition of reporting units,whether the notification cards were filled out in a timely manner,completeness and accuracy of data,whether data were verified in a timely man- ner,duplication of reports,revision at the end of the year and so on.Results The median of the time interval from diagnosis to filling in notification card,from filling in notification card to online data entry,from diagno- sis to online data entry,and from online data entry to verification was 0.00d,0.64d,0.65d and 0.04d,re- spectively.Annual rate of in-time verification was higher than that of in-time data notification (96.14% vs 85.86%);for hospitals,the rate of in-time online data entry was higher than that of filling in notification card (92.97% vs 92.09%).The percentage of complete data,accurate data,unspecified data,confirmation of suspected cases,explanation for deletion of notification card was 67.69%,99.36%,22.49%,98.15% and 21.50%,respectively.There was no duplication of report at the end of 2005.Hospitals at the provincial level had the lowest percentage of complete data and accurate data and the highest percentage of unspecified data. Conclusions The rate of intime data verification of Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is signif- icantly higher than that of hospitals.CDCs pay more attention to the management of infectious diseases than medical institutions.Infectious diseases in hos- pitals are often not timely reported during holidays. Hospitals should establish responsibility system for notification after office hours or on public holidays and in- troduce incentive mechanism,so as to minimize reports delay.Health administrative departments should strengthen the management of medical institutions.Health Inspection Institutes should enhance the enforce- ment of laws on infectious diseases.Inspection and training of infectious disease notification should be carried out on a regular basis.