Person—date of birth, MMYYYY
Data Element Attributes
Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type:![]() | Data Element |
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Short name:![]() | Date of birth month and year |
METEOR identifier:![]() | 743728 |
Registration status:![]() | Tasmanian Health, Superseded 06/05/2021 |
Definition:![]() | The date of birth of the person, expressed as MMYYYY. |
Data Element Concept:![]() | Person—date of birth |
Value Domain:![]() | Date MMYYYY |
Value domain attributes | ||
Representational attributes | ||
Representation class:![]() | Date | |
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Data type:![]() | Date/Time | |
Format:![]() | MMYYYY | |
Maximum character length:![]() | 6 |
Data element attributes | |
Collection and usage attributes | |
Guide for use:![]() | If date of birth is not known or cannot be obtained, provision should be made to collect or estimate age. Collected or estimated age would usually be in years for adults, and to the nearest three months (or less) for children aged less than two years. Additionally, an estimated date flag or a date accuracy indicator should be reported in conjunction with all estimated dates of birth. For data collections concerned with children's services, it is suggested that the estimated date of birth of children aged under 2 years should be reported to the nearest 3 month period, i.e. 0101, 0104, 0107, 0110 of the estimated year of birth. For example, a child who is thought to be aged 18 months in October of one year would have his/her estimated date of birth reported as 0104 of the previous year. Again, an estimated date flag or date accuracy indicator should be reported in conjunction with all estimated dates of birth. |
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Collection methods:![]() | Information on date of birth can be collected using the one question: What is your/(the person's) date of birth? In self-reported data collections, it is recommended that the following response format is used: Date of birth: _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ This enables easy conversion to the preferred representational layout (DDMMYYYY). For record identification and/or the derivation of other metadata items that require accurate date of birth information, estimated dates of birth should be identified by a date accuracy indicator to prevent inappropriate use of date of birth data. The linking of client records from diverse sources, the sharing of patient data, and data analysis for research and planning all rely heavily on the accuracy and integrity of the collected data. In order to maintain data integrity and the greatest possible accuracy an indication of the accuracy of the date collected is critical. The collection of an indicator of the accuracy of the date may be essential in confirming or refuting the positive identification of a person. For this reason it is strongly recommended that the data element Date—accuracy indicator, code AAA also be recorded at the time of record creation to flag the accuracy of the data. |
Comments:![]() | Privacy issues need to be taken into account in asking persons their date of birth. Wherever possible and wherever appropriate, date of birth should be used rather than age because the actual date of birth allows a more precise calculation of age. When date of birth is an estimated or default value, national health and community services collections typically use 0101 or 0107 or 3006 as the estimate or default for DDMM. It is suggested that different rules for reporting data may apply when estimating the date of birth of children aged under 2 years because of the rapid growth and development of children within this age group which means that a child's development can vary considerably over the course of a year. Thus, more specific reporting of estimated age is suggested. |
Source and reference attributes | |
Submitting organisation:![]() | Department of Health Tasmania |
Origin:![]() | National Health Data Committee National Community Services Data Committee |
Reference documents:![]() | Standards Australia 2002. AS5017—2002 Health Care Client Identification. Sydney: Standards Australia Standards Australia 2004. AS4846—2004 Health Care Provider Identification. Sydney: Standards Australia |
Relational attributes | |
Related metadata references:![]() | See also Date—accuracy indicator, code AAA Community Services (retired), Standard 30/09/2005 Disability, Standard 07/10/2014 Early Childhood, Standard 21/05/2010 Health, Standard 04/05/2005 Homelessness, Standard 23/08/2010 Housing assistance, Standard 23/08/2010 See also Date—estimate indicator, code N Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 09/08/2023 Community Services (retired), Standard 27/04/2007 |