Birth Defects Surveillance Guidelines
Guidelines for Conducting Birth Defects Surveillance - National Birth Defects Prevention Network
The technical guidelines in this document consist of a series of chapters covering the fundamental aspects of developing, planning, implementing, and conducting surveillance for birth defects and using the resulting data. They provide a way of improving the quality of birth defects surveillance data, which in turn enhances their use.
The Guidelines will be updated and revised over time. Whenever a revision is published, a revision date will appear in the chapter header to distinguish that page or pages from previous versions.
Comments and suggestions on this document are welcome. Submit comments to the Surveillance Guidelines and Standards Committee via e-mail at nbdpninc@nbdpn.org.
Title, Reference and Acknowledgement
Chapter 1 The Whys and Hows of Birth Defects Surveillance – Using Data
Chapter 2 Legislation
- Appendix 2.1 Sample State Legislation
- Appendix 2.2 Table of Birth Defects Legislation
- Appendix 2.3 Definitions Used to Determine Covered Entity Status Under the Privacy Rule
- Appendix 2.4 Office of Civil Rights (OCR) HIPAA Privacy Regulation Text
Chapter 3 Case Definition
- Appendix 3.1 Birth Defects Descriptions for NBDPN Core, Recommended, and Extended Conditions (this replaces old appendices 3.1 & 3.2) - Updated 3/2021
- Appendix 3.3 Examples of Conditions Considered to Be Minor Anomalies
- Appendix 3.4 Conditions Related to Prematurity in Infants Born at Less Than 36 Weeks Gestation
- Appendix 3.5 Case Inclusion Guidance for Potentially Zika-related Birth Defects
Chapter 4 Data Variables (also called Data Elements)
- Appendix 4.1 Descriptions of NBDPN Data Elements for Population-based Birth Defects Surveillance (this replaces old appendices 4.1 & 4.2) - Updated 3/2015
Chapter 5 Classification and Coding
- Appendix 5.1 Texas Disease Index
- Appendix 5.2 6-Digit CDC Codes - Updated 8/2007
Chapter 6 Case Ascertainment Methods
- Appendix 6.1 Data Source Described in Detail – Vital Records
- Appendix 6.2 Data Source Described in Detail – Hospital Data Sets
- Appendix 6.3 Data Source Described in Detail – Hospital and Patient Services Logs
- Appendix 6.4 Data Source Described in Detail – Genetic Services
Chapter 7 Data Quality Management
- Appendix 7.1 Data Sources Descriptive Assessment Tool
Chapter 9 Data Management and Security
Chapter 10 Data Collaboration and Dissemination through the NBDPN
Chapter 11 Data Presentation
- Appendix 11.1 Data Suppression
- Appendix 11.2 Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Map Data
- Appendix 11.3 Data Users Matrix
- Appendix 11.4 What Type of Chart or Graph Should I Use?
Chapter 12 Inclusion of Prenatal Diagnoses in Birth Defects Surveillance
- Appendix 12.1 Components for Incorporating Prenatal Diagnosis into Birth Defects Surveillance
- Appendix 12.2 Suggested List of Prenatal Diagnoses That Can Be Included in Prevalence Estimates Without a Clinician’s Review of the Defect Certainty
- Appendix 12.3 Suggested List of Data Variables to Collect for Prenatally Diagnosed Defects