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Table 1 Manual matching decision rules

From: The neglected burden of tuberculosis disease among health workers: a decade-long cohort study in South Africa

Included

Not Included

If difference between birthdates greater than 1 with all other variables an exact match

If only first initial (full first/given name not available) (even if other variables match)

If month and day of birthdate were reversed

If difference between birthdates/year was greater than 2

If one digit of day or month of birth were reversed

If difference between birthdates/year was greater than 1 with at least 1 other variable that was not an exact match

If there was an obvious typo or spelling mistake

If surname was very common (e.g. Mofokeng) and other variables were not perfect matches

If the surnames differed but one could be assumed to be a nickname of the other

If date of birth was different by one or two days

If the given names differed but one could be assumed to be a nickname of the other

If the Surname, Given Name/s and year of birth match perfectly but month and day of birth are different

If all other variables matched perfectly but sex differed

 

If the Surname, Given Name/s and year of birth match but month/day in birthdate are missing

 

If surname sounds the same but is spelled differently and at least one of the given names and year of birth match