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Comparison of official mortality statistics with data obtained from myocardial infarction and stroke registers
D Szczesniewska1, P Kurjata, G Broda
1Department of Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention, National Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland.
Insights
Comparing death data for myocardial infarction and stroke reveals discrepancies between official statistics and project registers. Differences stem from data collection methods and patient record inconsistencies, impacting accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular epidemiology
- Public health surveillance
Background:
- Official mortality statistics from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and data from the POL-MONICA Warsaw Project registers are crucial for understanding cardiovascular disease burden.
- Discrepancies between these data sources can affect public health assessments and interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the completeness and diagnostic agreement of death data for myocardial infarction and stroke between CSO statistics and POL-MONICA Warsaw Project registers.
- To identify reasons for differences in data completeness and diagnostic accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of mortality data for myocardial infarction and stroke.
- Assessment of register completeness against official statistics and vice versa.
- Evaluation of diagnostic agreement between death certificates and register diagnoses.
Main Results:
- MONICA registers captured 78% of CSO-identified deaths, while CSO data included 88% of MONICA-identified deaths.
- Diagnostic agreement was 70.4% for myocardial infarction and 64.4% for stroke between the two sources.
- Key discrepancies arose from deaths outside the study area, patient identification issues, and differing data collection methodologies.
Conclusions:
- Significant differences exist between official mortality statistics and dedicated disease registers for myocardial infarction and stroke.
- Methodological variations in data collection are a primary driver of diagnostic disagreement.
- Improving data linkage and standardization is essential for accurate cardiovascular mortality surveillance.
Abstract:
Two sources of information about deaths caused by myocardial infarction and stroke were compared: official statistical data obtained from the Central Statistical office (CSO), and data from the registers of myocardial infarction and stroke conducted under the POL-MONICA Warsaw Project. The completeness of the MONICA registers with respect to the CSO data was 78%, and the completeness of the CSO data with respect to the MONICA registers was 88%. The main causes of the differences were: lack of information in the registers on deaths outside Warsaw; lack of unequivocal identification markers in patients' records from different sources; and other errors in data processing. The agreement of the diagnoses in death certificates (in the CSO material) with the diagnoses in the MONICA registers was 70.4% for myocardial infarction, and 64.4% for stroke. The main cause of the disagreement between the diagnoses was a different methodological approach to the collection of data in the two information sources.