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 nbdpn@cdc.gov.

Title, Reference and Acknowledgement

Table of Contents

Introduction

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 Included in the Case Definition of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network
• Appendix 3.2 NBDPN Abstractor’s Instructions
• 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

Chapter 4 Data Variables

• Appendix 4.1 Descriptions of Minimum (Core) Data Variables
• Appendix 4.2 Descriptions of Recommended Data Variables

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 8 Statistical Methods

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?

Complete Manual (7.6 MB)