Estimating completeness of national and subnational death reporting in Brazil: application of record linkage methods

Bibliographic Details
Title: Estimating completeness of national and subnational death reporting in Brazil: application of record linkage methods
Authors: Luiz Fernando Lima Costa, Marli de Mesquita Silva Montenegro, Dacio de Lyra Rabello Neto, Antonio Tadeu Ribeiro de Oliveira, Jose Eduardo de Oliveira Trindade, Tim Adair, Maria de Fatima Marinho
Source: Population Health Metrics, Vol 18, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2020)
Publisher Information: BMC, 2020.
Publication Year: 2020
Collection: LCC:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
LCC:Public aspects of medicine
Subject Terms: Mortality, Registration completeness, Record linkage, Capture-recapture methods, Generalized linear modeling, Civil registration and vital statistics, Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics, R858-859.7, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
More Details: Abstract Background In Brazil, both the Civil Registry (CR) and Ministry of Health (MoH) Mortality Information System (SIM) are sources of routine mortality data, but neither is 100% complete. Deaths from these two sources can be linked to facilitate estimation of completeness of mortality reporting and measurement of adjusted mortality indicators using generalized linear modeling (GLM). Methods The 2015 and 2016 CR and SIM data were linked using deterministic methods. GLM with covariates of the deceased’s sex, age, state of residence, cause of death and place of death, and municipality-level education decile and population density decile, was used to estimate total deaths and completeness nationally, subnationally and by population sub-group, and to identify the characteristics of unreported deaths. The empirical completeness method and Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 estimates were comparators at the national and state level. Results Completeness was 98% for SIM and 95% for CR. The vast majority of deaths in Brazil were captured by either system and 94% were reported by both sources. For each source, completeness was lowest in the north. SIM completeness was consistently high across all sub-groups while CR completeness was lowest for deaths at younger ages, outside facilities, and in the lowest deciles of municipality education and population density. There was no clear municipality-level relationship in SIM and CR completeness, suggesting minimal dependence between sources. The empirical completeness method model 1 and GBD completeness estimates were each, on average, less than three percentage points different from GLM estimates at the state level. Life expectancy was lowest in the northeast and 7.5 years higher in females than males. Conclusions GLM using socio-economic and demographic covariates is a valuable tool to accurately estimate completeness from linked data sources. Close scrutiny of the quality of variables used to link deaths, targeted identification of unreported deaths in poorer, northern states, and closer coordination of the two systems will help Brazil achieve 100% death reporting completeness. The results also confirm the validity of the empirical completeness method.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1478-7954
Relation: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12963-020-00223-2; https://doaj.org/toc/1478-7954
DOI: 10.1186/s12963-020-00223-2
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/802ef3e7c2df43df8adbaebcd97eb7ea
Accession Number: edsdoj.802ef3e7c2df43df8adbaebcd97eb7ea
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
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More Details
ISSN:14787954
DOI:10.1186/s12963-020-00223-2
Published in:Population Health Metrics
Language:English