Estimating mortality in the Hispanic population of Connecticut, 1990 to 1991

Among all deaths to Connecticut residents (1990/91), 1260 were acceptable Spanish-surname matches (using father's surname for females), of which only 793 (62.9%) were identified as Hispanic origin on the death certificate. Certificates also identified 127 non-Spanish-surnamed Hispanics. With death rates for non-Hispanics used as the standard, the standardized mortality ratio for Hispanics based on the 920 (793 plus 127) deaths identified by the Hispanic-origin item was lower (by 33% in males and 36% in females) than that based on all 1387 (1260 plus 127) Hispanics. Spanish-surname matching should improve estimation of mortality rates in some Hispanic populations.