Data quality of the epidemiological surveillance system for congenital syphilis

Introduction: cases of congenital syphilis have been increasing in Brazil, and the quality of data recorded in the surveillance system may impact the information used in primary care. Objective: To evaluate the quality of data in the epidemiological surveillance system for congenital syphilis from 2017 to 2021. Methods: evaluation study using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation test, analyzing records of congenital syphilis in the Notifiable Diseases Information System, in order to evaluate completeness, consistency and timeliness of data entry (2017–2021), as well as its linkage with the Mortality Information System, in order to evaluate representativeness. Results: a total of 1,575 cases were reported during the study period. Completeness ranged from 92.5% to 96.2%, while consistency ranged between 80.4% and 97.3%. The time between diagnosis and notification was delayed (median of 3 to 4 days), while data entry was timelier (median of 3 to 8 days). The representativeness of this system was classified as moderate, with a correlation of 0.65 (p ≤ 0.001) between the records of deaths in the analyzed systems. Nevertheless, consistency between the reported deaths and the completion of the date of occurrence was considered very poor. Conclusion: the surveillance system for congenital syphilis was considered complete and consistent in most of the evaluated points, agile in entering cases, late in detecting them and moderately representative, indicating the need for improvement; however, it is important for the implementation of surveillance actions.