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Do we really know the cause of death of the very old? Comparison between official mortality statistics and cohort study classification

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Abstract

Causes of death of 625 subjects who died during the 4-year follow-up of a large population-based elderly cohort (Three-City study) were independently classified by the study adjudication committee and the national mortality register. The former used all available data about the cause of death (hospital records, medical data obtained from family physicians or specialists, and proxy interviews) and the latter used internationally standardized recommendations for processing death certificate data. Comparison showed a moderate overall agreement for underlying cause of death between the study adjudication committee and the national register (kappa = 0.51). Differences were found especially for cardiovascular diseases (20.6% of deaths from the study committee vs. 32.5% from the national register) and ill-defined causes of death (22.7 vs. 4%). The proportion of disagreement increased in participants dying at age >85 compared to those dying at age ≤70 (adjusted odds ratio = 2.46, 95% confidence interval = 1.10–5.49). It was also higher when the study committee used hospital record data for defining cause of death, compared to adjudication based on data obtained from proxy (adjusted odds ratio = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.09–3.14). These findings raise questions about the validity of national mortality registers in very old persons. Disease-specific causes of death, especially vascular diseases, could be overestimated in this age group.

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Acknowledgments

The Three-City (3C) Study is conducted under a partnership agreement between the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM), the Victor Segalen–Bordeaux II University, and Sanofi-Aventis. The Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale funded the preparation and initiation of the study. The 3C Study is also supported by the Caisse Nationale Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés, Direction Générale de la Santé, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, Institut de la Longévité, Conseils Régionaux of Aquitaine and Bourgogne, Fondation de France, and Ministry of Research–INSERM Programme “Cohortes et collections de données biologiques.” Sponsors are involved neither in the design of the study nor in the data analyses or manuscript elaboration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inserm U708-Neuroepidemiology, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Hopital de La Salpêtrière, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France

    Annick Alpérovitch, Marion Bertrand, Jean-Sébastien Vidal & Christophe Tzourio

  2. Université Pierre et Marie Curie/Paris 6, Paris, France

    Annick Alpérovitch, Marion Bertrand, Jean-Sébastien Vidal & Christophe Tzourio

  3. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Inserm CépiDc, 78116, Le Vésinet Cedex, France

    Eric Jougla & Gérard Pavillon

  4. IFR 69 Inserm-Université Paris XI, 94807, Villejuif Cedex, France

    Pierre Ducimetière

  5. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Inserm U897, 33076, Bordeaux Cedex, France

    Catherine Helmer

  6. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Inserm U888, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 05, France

    Karen Ritchie

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  1. Annick Alpérovitch
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  2. Marion Bertrand
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  3. Eric Jougla
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  4. Jean-Sébastien Vidal
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  5. Pierre Ducimetière
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  6. Catherine Helmer
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  7. Karen Ritchie
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  8. Gérard Pavillon
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  9. Christophe Tzourio
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Correspondence to Annick Alpérovitch.

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Alpérovitch, A., Bertrand, M., Jougla, E. et al. Do we really know the cause of death of the very old? Comparison between official mortality statistics and cohort study classification. Eur J Epidemiol 24, 669–675 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-009-9383-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-009-9383-2

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