Blurred lines: racial misclassification in death certificates in Brazil
Hellen Geremias Dos Santos1, Carla Ferreira do Nascimento2, Yeda Aparecida de Oliveira Duarte3
1Carlos Chagas Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rua Professor Algacyr Munhoz Mader, 3775, Cidade Industrial, Curitiba, Paraná, CEP 81350-010, Brazil. hellen.santos@fiocruz.br.
Objectives:
To analyze the agreement between self-reported race and race reported on death certificates for older (≥ 60 years) residents of São Paulo, Brazil (from 2000 to 2016) and to estimate weights to correct mortality data by race.
Methods:
We used data from the Health, Well-Being and Aging Study (SABE) and from Brazil's Mortality Information System. Misclassification was identified by comparing individual self-reported race with the corresponding race on the death certificate (n = 1012). Racial agreement was analyzed by performing sensitivity and Cohen's Kappa tests. Multinomial logistic regressions were adjusted to identify characteristics associated with misclassification. Correction weights were applied to race-specific mortality rates.
Results:
Total racial misclassification was 17.3% (13.1% corresponded to whitening, and 4.2% to blackening). Racial misclassification was higher for self-reported pardos/mixed (63.5%), followed by blacks (42.6%). Official vital statistics suggest highest elderly mortality rates for whites, but after applying correction weights, black individuals had the highest rate (45.85/1000 population), followed by pardos/mixed (42.30/1000 population) and whites (37.91/1000 population).
Conclusions:
Official Brazilian data on race-specific mortality rates may be severely misclassified, resulting in biased estimates of racial inequalities.
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