Death Statistics according to Cause of Death

Summary

The death statistic according to cause of death constitutes one of the most important sources of health information. As death is a consequence of biological causes, but having economic, health-related or social consequences, information available on the number of deaths occurring in a country is essential to facilitate policies from health administrations and other social stakeholders. These data allow for territorial comparisons by cause of death group to be made and for health indicators recommended by international organisations to be created. Strengths: This registry is available on a national level for policy issues as it is an official administrative data source and anonymised data can be used for free. It is also in line with European and international standards and uses good quality statistical procedures. Weaknesses: The temporal homogeneity is ensured when data are fully comparable under the same CIE classifications.

Type of data

Data Source
Registry

Type of Study
Crosssection regular

Data gathering method
Registries

Access to data

Conditions of access
Users can make requests for microdata files for scientific purposes. After analyszing its feasibility, users can be granted access to the information under strict conditions of confidentiality. - Free access to general tables in Spanish and English, disaggregated at national, regional, provincial and capital cities levels and months (in some cases) http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=/t15/p417/a2011/&file=pcaxis&L=0 -Anonymised microdata files, including causes of death (1976-2011) http://www.ine.es/prodyser/micro_mnp_defun.htm

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Anonymised microdata. Aggregated and elaborated tables.

Formats available
Microdata: txt Tables dates : PC-Axis, CSV, Excel. ASCII zip file following a register design file (EXCEL format)

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Every deceased person is recorded in the year when the death occurred. The disease classifications are applied according to the standards applicable in every moment (1975-1979 CIE-8, 1980-1998 CIE 9, 1999-2011 CIE 10).

First year of collection
Data have been digitised since 1975. The deaths according to cause of death from 1900 to 1975 can be found in a book.

Stratification if applicable
All recorded deaths

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Deaths occurring in the Spanish territory Breakdowns in tables: place of residence and place of occurrence by NUTS 3

Age range
DCM records all deaths that occur in the country.

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
- It covers all deaths in the Spanish territory and refers to the current year of data collection (disaggregated by months). - Basic variables (deaths and late foetal deaths occurring in the reference year) and derived indicators (standardised rates and potential years of life lost) - Reference to suicides - Classification variables (basic cause of death, age (or weeks of gestation), sex, nationality, and place of residence) To make comparisons between different geographical areas, a set of standardized calculated rates, such as the mortality rate by cause of death at regional level and the potential lost years of life, have been developed. Data are compiled into mortality tables according to causes on a national, autonomous and provincial level. Also, different mortality indicators are available (standardised rates and potential years of lost life). The classification variables are age groups, sex, month of death, size of the municipality, nationality, place of residence, and causes of death (according to an extended list – ICD10 - and a short list – 102 causes).

Linkage

Standardisation
It follows the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), as defined by the Committee of the World Health Organisation, implemented in Spain in 1951 (ICD-6 version), 1961 (ICD-7), 1968 (ICD-8), 1980 (ICD-9) and 1999 (ICD-10).

Possibility of linkage among databases
The anonymisation process of the data does not allow for linkage with other databases.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
The Civil Register is required, as a legal obligation, to register all deaths, ensuring almost complete coverage of statistics of all deaths in the Spanish territory. Information gathered is reliable as the collection process is enhanced by the collaboration formalized through agreements with all regions and by the coverage and control debugging procedures.

Breaks
The results of the statistics of deaths by cause of death are comparable in time to the variable underlying cause of death provided that it relates to the same version of the International Classification of Diseases. Therefore, changes can be detected according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in different years such as 1968-1979 (ICD-8), 1980-1998 (ICD-9) and 1999 onwards (ICD-10).

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Recent conceptual changes were set up to follow the World Health Organisation and Eurostat standards (http://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco42/sanitarias/metodologia_00_en.pdf) For the encoding used, the WHO recommends annual updates.

Governance

Contact information
Luis de Ándres Ramos
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spanish, Statistical Office, INE)
Castellana 183 mod 0207
28046 Madrid Spain Phone: 91 583 91 00
Email: infoine(at)ine.es
Url: http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=/t15/p417&file=inebase&L=0

Timeliness, transparency
The reference period is annual although information is provided by month of death. The complete publication is released fourteen months after the data has been collected.