Table 1. Scenarios that resulted in unlinked records using deterministic linkage were subsequently linked following probabilistic linkage, ranked from most likely to be correct to least likely.
| NHS number | Sex | Date of birth | Local ID within hospital | Postcode | Match weight | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | D | A | A | A | 62.02 | 5 |
| A | . | A | A | A | 62.02 | 55 |
| A | D | A | A | . | 45.96 | 10 |
| A | . | A | A | . | 45.96 | 5 |
| A | A | A | D | A | 44.49 | 9 |
| A | D | A | A | D | 44.32 | 5 |
| A | . | A | . | A | 42.75 | 22 |
| . | . | A | A | A | 42.24 | 25 |
| . | D | A | A | A | 42.24 | 14 |
| A | . | A | D | A | 41.32 | 41 |
| A | D | A | D | A | 41.32 | 9 |
| . | A | A | A | . | 29.35 | 1809 |
| A | A | A | D | . | 28.43 | 7 |
| . | A | A | A | D | 27.71 | 722 |
| A | A | A | D | D | 26.79 | 76 |
| . | . | A | A | . | 26.18 | 2 |
| . | D | A | A | . | 26.18 | 3 |
| . | A | A | . | A | 26.14 | 5 |
| D | A | A | A | . | 26.03 | 8 |
| A | . | A | D | . | 25.26 | 2 |
| A | D | A | D | . | 25.26 | 9 |
| . | A | A | D | A | 24.71 | 3642 |
| . | . | A | A | D | 24.54 | 2 |
| . | D | A | A | D | 24.54 | 10 |
| D | A | A | A | D | 24.39 | 5 |
| A | . | A | D | D | 23.62 | 5 |
| A | D | A | D | D | 23.62 | 11 |
| . | . | A | . | A | 22.97 | 1 |
Note. A = identifier agreed; D = identifier disagreed; . = identifier missing.