Linkage of the CF Foundation Patient Registry with the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database

Background: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry (CFFPR) maintains clinical data, including history of solid organ transplant, on people with cystic fibrosis (CF) who obtain care at CF Foundation-accredited care centers. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) database is a collection of national data related to organ transplantation that supports research to evaluate solid organ transplant candidate and recipient outcomes.

Methods: Individuals in the CFFPR were matched to SRTR records using an algorithm that compared names, last four digits of social security numbers, date of birth and date of death. We evaluated match quality by summarizing the extent to which transplant status agreed between the two data sources by organ and year of listing or transplant. We summarized CFFPR-reported characteristics for lung and liver transplants in the year prior to transplant.

Results: A total of 7,594 individuals who participated in the CFFPR matched SRTR records with approximately 75% having at least one transplant record in SRTR. Over 97% of the matched population had a CF diagnosis reported to SRTR. In total, 5,253 people were identified as lung transplant recipients and 499 as liver transplant recipients in SRTR. Clinical characteristics for lung and liver transplants were consistent with the epidemiology of transplantation for people with CF.

Conclusions: Linkage of the two data sources was successful, with high agreement between them supporting the use of the matched population as a valid resource to study transplantation in CF, particularly leveraging pre-transplant characteristics (collected in CFFPR) with detailed transplant data (collected in SRTR).