The reliability of mortality data in Johannesburg

Information on deaths in Johannesburg is collected on a voluntary basis by the Johannesburg City Health Department from the Department of Home Affairs regional offices as well as state mortuaries in the area. The reliability of these routinely collected data was assessed. Records of deaths of Asians, coloureds and whites from 1 July 1989 to 31 December 1989 were included in the study. Burial orders obtained from the different cemeteries and crematoria in the area were compared with the routinely collected mortality data. Two thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven deaths were included in the study. One hundred and ninety (6%) deaths in the department's records could not be found among the corresponding burial orders while 1,019 (36%) burial order records were not found among the department's routinely collected mortality data. Underreporting of deaths was greatest among the aged (43%) and infants (39%). When this underreporting was taken into account, the corrected infant mortality rate was 19.1/1,000 live births as opposed to 14.1. Recommendations are made for the improvement of the quality of routinely collected mortality data.