Internet death notices as a novel source of mortality surveillance data

Concerns about bioterrorism and influenza have focused attention on identifying novel data sources to enhance public health surveillance. The authors evaluated free Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Internet death notices for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, as a potentially timely source of mortality data. Data abstracted from Internet death notices for 1998-2001 were compared with mortality records from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Approximately 75% (44,294/60,281) of state records had death notices, and 91% (44,294/48,651) of death notices corresponded to a state record. There was a 2-day median lag from the date of death to online death notice publication. The date of death, gender, age, and name data were nearly 90% accurate and 60-100% complete. Increasing education and age were independently associated with increased Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporting. Being non-White, female, or a nursing home resident were independently associated with decreased reporting. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Internet death notices provided accurate, timely mortality data for nearly three fourths of all Allegheny County deaths.