Linking Police and Hospital Road Accident Records How Consistent Can It Be?

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Marco Raul Soares Amorim (Author) FEUP; Sara Ferreira (Author) FEUP; António Fidalgo Couto (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Transportation Research Record

Vol. 2432 No. 1

Pages: 10-16

ISSN: 0361-1981

Publisher: US National Research Council

Indexing

ISI Proceedings

ISI Web of Knowledge - 7 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology > Civil engineering

CORDIS: Technological sciences > Engineering > Civil engineering

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00A-0BA

DOI: 10.3141/2432-02

Abstract (EN): This paper presents the description of various steps to be applied in the linkage of road traffic accident records through a case study from the city of Porto, Portugal. The complexity of this process stems primarily from several issues found in the data sets: mistakes and missing values were frequently detected, and only a few common data fields could be matched by the linkage process. This study used the application of a mixed deterministic and weight-based probabilistic method to link police and hospital records. The tolerance calibration and weights computation were critical for the final linkage rate as well as for the correct matching of the results. The results obtained lay within the range of rates found by other authors. Furthermore, to improve the record linkage results, a validation process based on the emergency ambulance data was performed. Despite missing values, 98% of the matched records were verified as true matches. Finally, a preliminary investigation of bias after data linkage is described; it shows that the variables selected for comparison indicate similar statistical values. The main outcome of this study is a road accident linkage process that can be adapted, developed, and applied in different contexts and that aims to promote development of police, hospital, and emergency ambulance data in Portugal and other countries. Additional development is planned for each step presented in this paper.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 7