Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Infant Mortality, Cause of Death, and Vital Records Reporting in Ohio, United States

  • Published:
Maternal and Child Health Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction Infant mortality rate is a sensitive metric for population health and well-being. Challenges in achieving accurate reporting of these data can lead to inaccurate targeting of public health interventions. We analyzed a cohort from a pediatric tertiary care referral medical center to evaluate concordance between autopsy cause of death (COD) and death certificate documentation for infants <1 year of age. We predicted that infant COD as documented through vital records would not correspond to that as determined by autopsy. Methods We conducted a retrospective review comparing causes of infant death reported through Ohio Department of Health documents to those on Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center autopsy reports over an 8-year period from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2013. Results We analyzed 276 total cases of which 167 (61.5 %) represented infants born preterm. Autopsy reports identified 55 % of cases had a congenital anomaly. Additionally, 34 % of all cases had primary or contributing COD related to infection and 14.5 % of all cases indicated chorioamnionitis. We identified 156 (56.5 %) death certificates discordant with autopsy COD of which 52 (33.3 %) involved infection and 24 (15.4 %) involved congenital anomalies. Discussion There are opportunities to improve COD reporting through training for providers, and improvement of established state certification systems. Future strategies to reduce infant mortality will be better informed through enhancements in vital records COD reporting.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Álvarez, G., Harlow, S. D., Denman, C., & Hofmeister, M. J. (2009). Quality of cause-of-death statements and its impact on infant mortality statistics in Hermosillo, Mexico. Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica, 25(2), 120–127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Callaghan, W. M., MacDorman, M. F., Rasmussen, S. A., Qin, C., & Lackritz, E. M. (2006). The contribution of preterm birth to infant mortality rates in the United States. Pediatrics, 118(4), 1566–1573.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • D’Amico, M., Agozzino, E., Biagino, A., Simonetti, A., & Marinelli, P. (1999). Ill-defined and multiple causes on death certificates—A study of misclassification in mortality statistics. European Journal of Epidemiology, 15(2), 141–148.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, E. S., Goyal, N. K., Ammerman, R. T., Miller, M. M., Jones, D. E., Short, J. A., et al. (2014). Development of a linked perinatal data resource from state administrative and community-based program data. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18(1), 316–325.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hoyert, D. L., Minio, A. M., Anderson, R. N. (2003). Physicians’ handbook on medical certification of death. Centers for Disease Control. Hyattsville. Department of Health and Human Services.

  • Indiana State Department of Health. ISDH: Indiana Death Registration System (IDRS). (2015). http://www.in.gov/isdh/23576.htm. Accessed April 16, 2015.

  • Jordan, J. M., & Bass, M. J. (1993). Errors in death certificate completion in a teaching hospital. Clinical and Investigative Medicine, 16(4), 249–255.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Katsakiori, P. F., Panagiotopoulou, E. C., Sakellaropouls, G. C., Papazafiropoulou, A., & Kardara, M. (2007). Errors in death certificates in rural area of Greece. Rural and Remote Health, 7(4), 822.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, S. L., Kochanek, K. D., Xu, J., & Heron, M. (2015). Deaths: Final data for 2012. National Vital Statistics Reports, 63, 1–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohio Department of Health. (2015). Chapter 3705: VITAL STATISTICS. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3705. Accessed April 16, 2015.

  • Paulson, J., Ramsini, W., Conrey, E., Duffy, R., & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2007). Unregistered deaths among extremely low birthweight infants—Ohio, 2006. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 56(42), 1101–1103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reidpath, D. D., & Allotev, P. (2003). Infant mortality rate as an indicator of population health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57(5), 344–346.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rimsza, M. E., Schackener, R. A., Bowen, K. A., & Marshall, W. (2002). Can child deaths be prevented? The Arizona child fatality review program experience. Pediatrics, 110(1 Pt 1), e11–e18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Deborah Riddle, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Division of Pathology, for providing access to the Pathology death database. This study includes data provided by the Ohio Department of Health which should not be considered an endorsement of this study or its conclusions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave, ML 7009, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Laura M. Seske, Louis J. Muglia, Eric S. Hall & James M. Greenberg

  2. Perinatal Institute, Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Laura M. Seske, Louis J. Muglia, Eric S. Hall & James M. Greenberg

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Louis J. Muglia & James M. Greenberg

  4. Division of Pathology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Kevin E. Bove

  5. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Kevin E. Bove

Authors
  1. Laura M. Seske
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Louis J. Muglia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eric S. Hall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kevin E. Bove
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. James M. Greenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura M. Seske.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 19 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Seske, L.M., Muglia, L.J., Hall, E.S. et al. Infant Mortality, Cause of Death, and Vital Records Reporting in Ohio, United States. Matern Child Health J 21, 727–733 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2159-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2159-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation