Validity of death certificate variables in cases of death from external causes, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To validate variables other than the basic cause of death on death certificates from external causes of residents younger than 20 years old living in Recife, Brazil, in 1995. METHODS: A survey of death records of the Institute of Forensic in Recife was carried out in order to validate dea...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Barros, Maria Dilma de A, Ximenes, Ricardo, Lima, Maria Luiza C de
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2002
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Repositorio:Revista de Saúde Pública
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:revistas.usp.br:article/25340
Acceso en línea:https://www.revistas.usp.br/rsp/article/view/25340
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Death certificates
Cause of death
Validity
Data systems
Mortality
External causes
Atestados de óbito
Causa da morte
Validade
Sistema de informação
Mortalidade
Causas externas
Descripción
Sumario:OBJECTIVE: To validate variables other than the basic cause of death on death certificates from external causes of residents younger than 20 years old living in Recife, Brazil, in 1995. METHODS: A survey of death records of the Institute of Forensic in Recife was carried out in order to validate death certificate variables included in official mortality registries. Agreement analysis was performed using Kappa indexes and sensitivity. As a result of the methodology used, the study data was considered to be more consistent and therefore regarded as standard. RESULTS: Those variables forensic specialists indicated as their direct responsibility showed an excellent (gender, age, and category of violence) and good (type of accident) agreement. However, there were significant discrepancies in those variables seen as either of indirect or no forensic responsibility, such as locality and area where death took place, medical care provided and accident location. CONCLUSIONS: Data reveal a dissociation between the reasons for including some variables in death certificates and the obtaining strategy and their social purpose.