[Declared maternal death and the linkage between health information systems]

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Information Systems

Context:

• Maternal mortality surveillance in Brazil relies on multiple data sources.
• Accurate data linkage is crucial for understanding maternal death characteristics.
• The study examines data from the Mortality Information System, Live Birth Information System, and Hospital Information System in 2002.

Purpose:

• To describe maternal mortality characteristics using the Mortality Information System.
• To assess the linkage success between the Mortality Information System and other vital/hospital data systems.
• To identify common diagnoses and procedures associated with maternal deaths.

Summary:

• A descriptive study in Brazil linked maternal death records, finding low correlation percentages (46.5% with live birth data, 55.2% with hospital data).
• Infection was the most frequent admission diagnosis, and intensive care unit admission was the most frequent procedure.
• The study calculated official and adjusted maternal mortality ratios at 46.4 and 64.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively.

Impact:

• Highlights significant challenges in data integration for maternal mortality surveillance.
• Suggests potential underestimation of maternal mortality due to data linkage failures.
• Informs strategies for improving the completeness and accuracy of vital statistics systems.