[The profession variable in mortality statistics]

In order to evaluate the quality of the information on occupation in mortality statistics, a study of the distribution of deaths according to the occupation in Catalonia (n = 41,426) and in the rest of Spain (n = 293,386) during 1981 (data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística) was done. Also, two samples of the deaths notified in Catalonia during 1987 (n1 + n2 = 312) were studied. Different indicators of quality of the variable occupation were considered: absence of information, non classifiable occupation and insufficiently informative categories. Finally, a comparison of the quality of the data of 1981 and that of 1987 was done. In 1981, the proportion of deaths with no classifiable occupation was almost twice in Spain (10.7%) than in Catalonia, even though only productive age deaths were included (14.3%). In 1987 in Catalonia, almost half of the death certificates had no information on the occupation (47.7%) and only 5.5% of the certificates had detailed information. A worse situation was clear for Catalonia, as classifiable occupation decreased from 30.9% to 11.3% between 1981 and 1987. Also "work of house" and "retired" categories decreased.