Infant mortality in the Jewish population of Israel, 1960-63. A study based on linked birth and death records.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Age Factors↗
SEARCH · Search PubMed
Results for “Death Records”
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
On the signifcance of cause of death as recorded on death certificates in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Cardiovascular Diseases↗
A revised method for calculation of life expectancy tables from individual death records which provides increased accuracy at advanced ages.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Actuarial Analysis↗
Wisconsin's violent death reporting system: monitoring and responding to Wisconsin's violent deaths.
In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Injury Prevention Program, a grant to participate in a multistate project called the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). The purpose of the Wisconsin Violent Death Reporting System (WVDRS) is to link violent death records (death certificates, police reports, medical examiner and coroner reports, crime laboratories, and perhaps child fatality review teams) from the same event, promote more timely information retrieval, describe in detail circumstances that may have contributed to the violent death, and identify and characterize perpetrators and their relationships to victims. This article describes the development of WVDRS and its importance in understanding and preventing violent injury and death in Wisconsin.
Accidents↗
Population-based surveillance of HIV-associated cancers: utility of cancer registry data.
Long-term cancer risks are uncertain in HIV-infected persons, particularly those using highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Timely, population-based surveillance of HIV-associated malignancies in the United States has been challenging because of various data inadequacies. Cancer registries represent a resource for this surveillance, if uncertainties around accurate differentiation of HIV-associated and unassociated cancers can be resolved. To inform the utility of cancer registry data for classifying and monitoring HIV-associated cancers, the completeness and quality of cancer registry-available information about patient HIV status was assessed. For all 10,126 non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs), 1497 Hodgkin lymphomas (HLs), and 895 anal cancers reported to the Greater San Francisco Bay Area registry during 1990-1998, 6 indicators of patient HIV status were retrieved from 2 cancer registry-available sources (cancer registry records, death records) and from linkage with the California AIDS registry. Cross-tabulations were used to examine the distributions of patients with evidence of positive HIV status by indicator and source. Together, 5 cancer registry-available HIV indicators identified 25% more presumed HIV-positive NHL patients and nearly 50% more HL and anal cancer patients than were detected by AIDS registry linkage. Eighty-three percent of NHL patients and at least half of HL and anal cancer patients were identified by multiple sources of HIV indicators, and most individual indicators agreed acceptably with others. However, optimal strategies for classifying HIV-associated patients differed by cancer site. At least in this region, cancer registry data represent a useful resource for monitoring HIV-associated lymphomas and anal cancer and may offer benefits over linkage-based means in the age of HAART.
Adult↗
[The hospital autopsy. An important factor in hospital quality assurance].
The frequency of hospital autopsies declined after a new autopsy law was introduced in 1990. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the frequency of autopsy over a six month period in Copenhagen county. We compared the causes of death recorded on death certificates with autopsy findings. One thousand seven hundred and four hospital deaths were followed by 534 (31%) autopsies. Neither age of the decreased nor length of the admission seemed to influence the autopsy frequency. In 20% of the autopsies we found valuable new informations compared to the causes of death recorded on the death certificates.
Autopsy↗
A validation of underlying cause of death, as recorded by clinicians on stillbirth and neonatal death certificates.
Clinical case notes and necropsy reports were used to validate underlying causes of death as recorded and coded on 590 stillbirth and neonatal death certificates. There were 55 cases ascribed to respiratory distress syndrome, in 45 this was validated, three cases were not assigned to respiratory distress syndrome which should have been. In 102 cases death was ascribed to congenital malformation, this was validated in 96, 13 cases should have been assigned to congenital malformation, but were not. Use of available clinical and necropsy information when completing death certificates would have decreased the number of deaths attributed to respiratory distress syndrome by 13%, and increased the number certified as dying from congenital malformation by 10%.
Congenital Abnormalities↗
[Occupational mortality in Italy during 1992, assessed through record-linkage between pension records and death certificates].
BACKGROUND: The creation of a surveillance system of occupational mortality in Italy is limited by the low quality of information on occupation in death certificates, since the information is often incomplete or lacking and because only the occupation at the time of death is registered. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the possible use of INPS (National Institute of Social Security) records for the purpose of surveillance of occupational mortality, in terms of feasibility of setting up a system and of validity of the results obtained. METHODS: Death records of 218,510 subjects aged 18-74, deceased in the 12 months following the 1991 census, were obtained from ISTAT (Central Statistics Institute). These were combined through record-linkage with the INPS social security archives, which contain the employment records by economic sector going back to 1974, in order to assign these deaths the sector in which they had worked the longest. Mortality by specific causes was evaluated by industry by means of a proportional mortality analysis stratified by sex and occupational status, and adjusted for age, education, marital status, geographical area of birth, drawing a disability pension, employment status at the time of death and work instability. RESULTS: Record-linkage allowed attribution of the longest held job to 70% of the deaths recorded. Results are presented and discussed only on mortality in men due to asbestosis and silicosis, and causes of death with a substantial proportion attributable to occupation: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); cancers of the bladder, nasal cavity, larynx, lung and pleura; leukaemia and lymphoma; accidental causes. Among the economic sectors with a significant excess mortality, the following are well documented in the literature: mortality due to COPD in the coal and peat-bog sectors; due to leukaemia among farmers; due to sino-nasal tumours in wood-working and furniture production; due to cancer of the larynx, lung, and pleura in occupations where there was probable exposure to asbestos (fishing and maritime transport, non-metal mining, building industry, and naval, train and aircraft construction); due to silicosis in industries with potential exposure to crystalline silica; due to accidental causes in the building industry and farming. Other mortality excesses and deficits, especially those due to bladder and lympho-haemopoietic cancers, appear to be only partly consistent with those described by other authors. DISCUSSION: The feasibility of developing a surveillance system of occupational mortality based on the INPS source was found to be good, and, at least among males, for 75% of the deceased subjects historical information existed concerning the economic sectors registered in the INPS records. The results obtained would appear to indicate that the system is capable of highlighting risk excesses due to widespread exposure in the industries examined, regarding diseases for which there is a strong association with exposure. On the other hand, due to the inherent limits of the study's design (lack of a complete work history and of precise information on the jobs held) its use is not recommended in the surveillance of diseases with a low proportion attributable to a risk factor, or with wide exposure variability in a given sector among the various jobs.
Adult↗
Regional mortality from motor vehicle traffic injury: relationships among place-of-occurrence, place-of-death, and place-of-residence.
Regional mortality data, which are compiled according to place-of-residence of the decedent, are an important reference for regional health planning and resource allocation. However, it would be inappropriate to apply these data to studies of environmental risk factors if a large proportion of fatal motor vehicle traffic injuries (MVTI) in fact occur outside the resident county. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion and characteristics of residents of a rural area of Taiwan who died from MVTIs that occurred outside the county of residence. We also explored the relationships among the place-of-occurrence, place-of-death, and place-of-residence of these decedents. The families or neighbors of residents of Huatung Area (eastern Taiwan) who died from MVTIs in 1994 or 1995 were interviewed to identify the place-of-occurrence of the MVTI. Of the 882 Huatung Area residents who died as a result of an MVTI during the study period and for whom relevant data were available, the MVTI occurred outside the resident county in 207 (23%) cases. Residents whose MVTI occurred outside the county of residence were more likely to be youths (aged 15-24) or young adults (aged 25-44) and driving automobiles or trucks. Of the 866 cases in which the exact place was known, the place-of-occurrence and the place-of-death (recorded on the death certificate) were in the same county in 849 (98%). Because a high proportion of fatal MVTIs occurred outside the resident county, the mortality rate calculated according to place-of-residence does not accurately reflect the environmental risk factors in this area. The finding that the characteristics of those whose MVTI occurred outside the county differed from those decedents whose MVTI occurred within the county indicates that there are two target groups for prevention programs. In addition, at least in Huatung Area, the place-of-death recorded on the death certificate could serve as a surrogate for the place-of-occurrence in epidemiologic studies.
Accidents, Traffic↗
Medical certification of causes of death in an Australian metropolitan hospital. Comparison with autopsy findings and a critical review.
OBJECTIVES: To compare the causes of deaths recorded on death certificates with findings at autopsy and to identify other deficiencies in the completion of death certificates. DESIGN AND SETTING: The causes of death (Part I and II) recorded on the death certificates of all patients undergoing autopsy at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, in 1992 were compared with the autopsy findings. Additional clinical information about previous medical and surgical history and antemortem investigations was obtained from the clinical summary in the autopsy reports, and from hospital charts in some cases. PATIENTS: In 1992, 132 hospital autopsies were performed (autopsy rate of 24.2%). Of these patients, 68% were aged 65 years or over, and 30% were aged 75 years or over. RESULTS: Major discrepancies between the cause of death listed on the certificates and autopsy findings were found in 16 cases (12%). Other deficiencies of death certification included listing the mode of death (e.g., cardiac failure) without an underlying cause in 14 cases (11%); failure to cite recent major surgery in 17 of 20 cases (85%); failure to specify site or organism in 33 of 40 cases (82.5%) of infection or sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed findings of previous studies with respect to missed major diagnoses, but identified other deficiencies in certification of causes of death, which could compromise accuracy of statistics obtained from death certificates. Mechanisms by which these deficiencies can be prevented or corrected are discussed.
Adult↗
Adolescent and pre-adolescent suicide in Newfoundland and Labrador.
This study investigated suicides by people aged ten to 19 in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1977 to 1988. It is the first study of suicide in the province to use the records of death from all eight hospital pathology departments in the province and from the office of the Chief Forensic Pathologist. Cases were selected for the study using standardized criteria, independent of the manner of death recorded on the death certificate. A suicide rate of 4.37 per 100,000 was found. This rate and the age- and sex-specific suicide rates are lower than the official figures for Canada but higher than those reported in earlier Newfoundland studies. The rate for males was nearly five times the female rate, and the rate for people aged 15 to 19 was nearly six times that of people aged ten to 14. Suicide rates for Labrador were higher than for the island portion of the province for both Native and for non Native adolescents. Extremely high rates of suicide were found only among the Native population living in Northern Labrador, while none were recorded for Native people elsewhere. Firearms accounted for 54% and hanging for 33% of all suicides. Thirty percent of suicides occurred on a Saturday. Only 36 of the 63 deaths included in this study were designated as suicide on death certificates. The higher rate of under-reporting of suicide than in other jurisdictions suggests that official rates may not be useful for comparisons. The reasons for the high rate of under-reporting are discussed.
Adolescent↗
Studies on the reliability of vital and health records: I. Comparison of cause of death and hospital record diagnoses.
Based on computer linkage of death records and hospital discharge abstracts, underlying cause of death and discharge diagnoses are compared for 9,724 Vermont resident in-hospital deaths occurring between 1969 and 1975. The agreement between the diagnoses recorded in the two data systems provides a measure of the reproducibility of recording, abstracting, and coding practices. Using the first three digits of the International Classification of Diseases, the agreement between cause and closest medical record diagnosis was 72 per cent. Concordance declined by patient age and length of hospital stay and varied significantly by coded cause of death. A major source of variation was the hospital of death where agreement levels ranged between 45 and 84 per cent. The latter finding is regarded as a potential starting point for targeting investigation of sources of discrepancy and initiating efforts to improve diagnosis recording and coding in the two record systems. The value of both depends on continuing efforts to improve and maintain data quality.
Age Factors↗
Deaths from diabetes are under-reported in national mortality statistics.
Subjects with diabetes who attended rural surveys in Western Australia from 1978 to 1982 were followed up to ascertain death rates and the causes of death recorded on death certificates. Cardiovascular disease was assigned as the direct cause of death in 63% of deaths, with equal rates in male and female subjects, and renal disease in 8% of deaths with the proportion in women (12%) being greater than that in men (4%). The diagnosis of diabetes was stated on only 65% of the death certificates, and in only 24% was diabetes recorded as a direct or antecedent cause. In the same cohort the Australian Bureau of Statistics coded diabetes as the underlying cause of death in 24%, while attributing deaths to cardiovascular disease in 50% of the cases. This study suggests that diabetes is considerably underreported both on doctors' death certificates and in the mortality figures of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Adolescent↗
Alcohol-related mortality as a function of socio-economic status.
AIMS: To describe the differences in acute, chronic and total alcohol-related mortality by several measures of socio-economic status (SES) and to unravel the influences of different dimensions of SES. DESIGN: A register-based follow-up study of alcohol-related mortality. SETTING: Finland. PARTICIPANTS: The dataset was formed by linking census records with death records for 1987-95 and included 21,922 alcohol-related deaths. MEASUREMENTS: SES indicators include education, occupational class, personal income, net household income per consumption unit (spending power) and housing tenure. The judgement of whether death was alcohol-related was based on death certificates. FINDINGS: Acute and chronic alcohol-related mortality were much higher in low SES groups for all SES indicators, including spending power, even when controlling for the remaining SES variables. Among men, personal income was a better predictor of alcohol-related death than spending power, while among women the situation was reversed. The effect of one SES measure was often stronger in low levels of another SES measure. Social selection and drift are likely to contribute to the large differentials in respect to personal income, while their effect on other differentials is likely to be smaller. CONCLUSIONS: SES is an important predictor of acute and chronic alcohol-related mortality. The total impact of SES cannot fully be captured using only one or two measures of SES.
Adult↗
Thyroid disease and increased cardiovascular risk.
The effects of thyroid dysfunction are thought to be reversible on restoration of euthyroidism, but postmortem and epidemiologic data suggest that subclinical or treated thyroid disease is associated with increased vascular risk. In order to determine the extent of this risk, and to explore whether the nature and/or treatment of thyroid disease are critical in this relationship, we used medical record linkage to match patients with treated thyroid disease of various etiologies with routinely collected national inpatient and daycase hospital discharge records and death records, and assessed the number of hospitalizations from cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease or death in patients with thyroid disease and control patients. Patients treated for Graves' disease had more hospitalizations from cardiovascular disease than controls (relative risk, 1.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.20 to 1.67; p < 0.001). Toxic multinodular goiter was also associated with significantly higher rates of cardiovascular disease (relative risk, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 2.02; p = 0.008). Patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis aged over 50 years had a threefold increase in cardiovascular admissions compared to controls (23.5% and 6.5%, respectively; 95% confidence interval for difference, 6.0% to 27.9%; p = 0.003). Thus, different forms of thyroid disease were associated with increased long-term vascular risk despite restoration of euthyroidism. The mechanisms that mediate this risk are unclear but may not involve thyroid hormone abnormality.
Adult↗
Ethnic differences in cause specific mortality among hospitalised patients with diabetes: a linkage study in New Zealand.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of excess mortality among patients with diabetes in three ethnic groups. DESIGN: A linkage study of national hospital discharge records to death records. SETTING: New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 74 847 patients (11,268 Māori, 5730 Pacific, and 57,849 non-Māori/non-Pacific) aged over 25 years with a hospital discharge diagnosis of diabetes between 1988 and 2001. By the end of 2001, 29,295 (39%) of the cohort had died. Based on the underlying cause of death, standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) (95% confidence intervals) were calculated for each ethnic group and sex. MAIN RESULTS: Comparing the mortality patterns of patients with diabetes to the general population of the same ethnic group, adjusting for age and calendar period, all cause SMRs were higher for Māori women and men: 3.80 (95% CI: 3.64 to 3.97) and 3.44 (95%CI: 3.30 to 3.58) than for Pacific (men: 2.41 (95%CI: 2.21 to 2.61); women: 2.23 (95%CI: 2.06 to 2.41)) and non-Māori/non-Pacific (men: 2.98 (95%CI: 2.93 to 3.04); women: 2.99 (95%CI: 2.93 to 3.04)) people. SMRs were significantly raised for several causes of death, including cardiovascular disease and many site specific cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of excess mortality among Māori with diabetes may relate to severity of disease. This needs further investigation, as the excess mortality may be amenable to intervention.
Cause of Death↗
Enhanced pregnancy-associated mortality surveillance: Minnesota, 1990-1999.
Comprehensive surveillance is critical to accurate identification of pregnancy-associated deaths and risk factors and is the first step in implementing programs to prevent such deaths in young women. In Minnesota, surveillance is currently based on analysis of data from death records. This study sought to demonstrate that the state's current surveillance method underestimates the actual burden of maternal deaths in Minnesota. It proposes that ongoing enhanced surveillance--analysis of death certificate data combined with the linking of death records of women of reproductive age with live birth records or fetal death records--provides a more complete and accurate accounting of pregnancy-associated mortality in Minnesota.
Cause of Death↗
Variation in the provision of chemotherapy for colorectal cancer.
OBJECTIVE: To quantify the impact of patient, area and hospital characteristics on variations in the provision of chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. SUBJECTS: Incident cases of colorectal cancer (ICD 153-154), aged under 75 years and resident in Scotland, derived from linked hospital discharge records and death records for the period January 1990 to June 1994. The final analysis was carried out on 7852 patients resident in 823 areas and first admitted to one of 59 hospitals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Whether a patient received chemotherapy (OPCS4 procedure code X35.2) during any hospital episode in the six months after their first admission. METHODS: Multilevel logistic regression to separate effects of patients, areas and hospitals. RESULTS: During the study period, 8% (n = 626) of the study population received chemotherapy within six months of their first admission. Adjusting for comorbidities and emergency admissions, both age and deprivation were significantly associated with the treatment. The odds ratios (OR) of chemotherapy relative to patients aged 65-74 were 2.13 and 4.50 for patients aged 55-64 and under 55 respectively. Relative to patients resident in the most affluent areas, the OR of chemotherapy for patients resident in the most deprived areas was 0.73. Area level availability of the treatment was not significantly associated with a patient's odds of receiving the treatment while on site provision of chemotherapy at the hospital of first admission was (OR = 4.32). There was significant unexplained variation between hospitals of first admission but not between areas of residence; between hospital variation decreased by 22% during the study period. CONCLUSION: Differences according to age may reflect both clinical and patient decisions regarding the benefits of the treatment relative to its toxicity. Lower treatment rates in deprived areas may indicate inequitable access to services. Hospital differences may reflect consultant effects and it would be expected that these should decrease now that the efficacy of the treatment has been recognised and guidelines have been issued.
Adolescent↗