ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the quality of records for live births and infant deaths and to estimate the infant mortality rate for skin color or race, in order to explore possible racial inequalities in health. METHODS Descriptive study that analyzed the quality of records of the Live Births Information System and Mortality Information System in Rondônia, Brazilian Amazonian, between 2006-2009. The infant mortality rates were estimated for skin color or race with the direct method and corrected by: (1) proportional […]

OBJECTIVE To review the frequency of and factors associated with fetal death in the Brazilian scientific literature. METHODS A systematic review of Brazilian studies on fetal deaths published between 2003 and 2013 was conducted. In total, 27 studies were analyzed; of these, 4 studies addressed the quality of data, 12 were descriptive studies, and 11 studies evaluated the factors associated with fetal death. The databases searched were PubMed and Lilacs, and data extraction and synthesis were independently performed by two […]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of information registered on fetal death certificates. METHODS: Records were reviewed from 710 fetal deaths registered in the consolidated database of deaths from the State System for Data Analysis and the São Paulo State Secretary of Health, for deaths in São Paulo municipality (Southeastern Brazil) during the first semester of 2008. Completeness was analyzed for variables on fetal death certificates issued by hospitals and autopsy service. The death certificates from a sub-sample of 212 fetal […]

INTRODUCTION: The real magnitude of maternal mortality in the city of Uberlândia, Brazil, is fairly unknown. The aim is to identify the characteristics of maternal mortality in the city during 1997. METHODS: Death certificates of women between 10-49 years old from Uberlândia were used as a main data source with additional interviews with family members. Only women between 10- 49 years of age at time of death were included. Maternal deaths were further confirmed at the health services level by […]

OBJECTIVE: The mortality rate due to traffic accidents is an information often used while making public health policies. In order to measure traffic violence, a study was carried to analyze the number of death by traffic accidents per registered motor vehicle. METHODS: Based on the number of registered vehicles, population and traffic accident deaths, obtained from the Statistical Yearbook (1999), Demographic Yearbook (1997), Denatran (1999), Ministério da Saúde (2000) and Fundação IBGE (2000) 61 countries and 51 areas in Brazil […]

Death certificates were analysed according to the basic cause of death. Out of the total number of deaths which had occured in Children Hospital (Florianópolis, SC, Brazil), 161 were considered valid for the purpose of this study. With the information obtained from the respective hospital file, the death certificates were filled out again, and then compared to the original ones. Agreement was observed in 60.2% of cases between the original death certificates and the re-filled ones, and Congenital Malformations gave […]

An analysis of child mortality by causes was made on the basis of classification by multiple causes of death. For this archives containing records of child deaths in the State of S.Paulo (Brazil) for 1983 were used. The underlying cause and the associated causes, according to various clustering types, were, among other variables, retrieved from each record. Two types of cases with clearly determined characteristics were detected: those occurring predominantly during the neonatal period with the morbid process involving almost […]

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the infant mortality trend in a metropolitan area, from 1984 to 1998. The main focus was on avoidable causes of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality. METHODS: Sources of data were the Sistema de Informações em Mortalidade do Ministério da Saúde (SIM-MS) [Mortality Information System of the Ministry of Health] and Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics Foundation] (official live birth and death records) for the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, […]

The validity of the official information on the causes of infant deaths was studied in the Brazilian cities of Porto Alegre and Pelotas in 1985. Using data collected for a population-based case-control study of infant mortality due to infectious diseases or malnutrition, a comparison was made between the causes of death reported on the death certificates and those obtained after a careful review of case-notes and a medical interview with the parents of the deceased infants. Official death certificates showed […]

It was analyzed the quality of death certificate information for deaths registed in Viamão county (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) during 1987, considering unfilled blanks, and unknown and incorrect responses. Small omissions were found in data identifying the person who had died; larger omissions in data concerning social and obstetric history, medical assistance, and violent deaths. To improve the quality of death certificate information it was suggested that physicians be continually reminded of the importance of giving the correct information […]