Representativeness of deaths identified through the injury-at-work item on the death certificate: implications for surveillance.
J Russell and
C Conroy
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WVa.
BACKGROUND. This research investigated the accuracy of the injury-at-workitem on the death certificate for surveillance of occupationalinjury deaths in Oklahoma during 1985 and 1986. METHODS. Representativenessof occupational injury deaths identified by death certificateswas assessed by comparing these deaths with all occupationalinjury deaths identified through death certificates, workers'compensation reports, medical examiner reports, and OSHA recordsfor categories of occupation, industry, and external causesof death. RESULTS. Certain external causes of death (e.g., motorvehicle traffic deaths) and certain occupations (e.g., farming)and industries (agriculture and services) are more often underidentifiedthrough death certificates. CONCLUSIONS. The findings of thisstudy support Baker's observation that no single data sourcecontains all deaths or all the data elements necessary to describeoccupational injury deaths. Data sources may be combined toimprove representativeness through more complete case ascertainment.
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