Quality of Death Rates by Race and Hispanic-origin

📖 The Scoop

This report summarizes current knowledge and research on the quality and reliability of death rates by race and Hispanic origin in official mortality statistics of the United States produced by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). It provides a quantitative assessment of bias in death rates by race and Hispanic origin and identifies areas for targeted research. Death rates are based on information on deaths from death certificates filed in the states and compiled into a national database by NCHS, and on population data from the Census Bureau. Researchers summarized selected studies of race/Hispanic origin misclassification and undercoverage on deaths and population. They made estimates on the separate and joint bias on death rates by race and Hispanic origin from the two sources. They made simplifying assumptions about the stability of the biases over time and among age groups. Original results are presented using an expanded, updated database from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study. Death rates for all groups show net effects of race misclassification and undercoverage. For whites and blacks, published death rates are overstated in official publications by 1.0 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively, resulting mainly from undercounts in the census. Death rates for other minority groups are understated as follows: American Indians, 21 percent; Asian or Pacific Islanders: 11 percent; and Hispanics, 2 percent. (SM)

Genre: Medical / Biostatistics (fancy, right?)