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Comparison of occupational interview data to death certificate data in Utah
D W Turner1, M C Schumacher, D W West
1St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Junction, CO.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine
|January 1, 1987
Summary
Death certificates partially reflect a person's work history. Occupational and industry data on death certificates showed agreement with lifelong interviews for most individuals, especially when considering any job listed.
Area of Science:
- Occupational health
- Epidemiology
- Public health
Background:
- Accurate occupational data is crucial for understanding disease etiology.
- Death certificates are a common source for occupational information, but their accuracy is debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare lifelong occupational histories from interviews with death certificate data.
- To assess the agreement between interview-based and death certificate-derived occupational and industry codes.
Main Methods:
- Interviews were conducted with male bladder and colon cancer patients to gather lifelong occupational histories.
- Occupational and industry data were coded using Bureau of Census codes.
- Agreement was defined by identical codes, with analyses considering usual, most recent, and any listed occupation/industry.
Main Results:
- Usual occupation and industry agreed with death certificates for 54% and 72% of bladder cancer patients, respectively.
- For bladder cancer patients, at least one listed occupation and industry agreed with death certificates for 69% and 84%, respectively.
- Job duration and education level influenced the agreement between interview and death certificate data.
Conclusions:
- Death certificates capture at least partial occupational and industry information for the majority of individuals.
- The accuracy of death certificate occupation data is influenced by factors such as job duration and education.
- Findings support the utility of death certificates in occupational health research, with considerations for data limitations.