Mortality statistics in Belgium 1980-1997: quality of coding

Aim: To determine to which extent and how coding errors affect the Belgian mortality statistics. Methods: According to rules and notes of the ICD-9 Classification, an automated programme was developed and applied to the Belgian 1980-1997 mortality data. In addition to this, a recoding exercise has been carried out in collaboration with the French WHO Coding Reference Centre on a systematic sample of 566 certificates. Main findings: The number of errors decreased significantly over time (from about 100 °/°° errors to 10 °/°°), but the pattern of errors changed in time and in magnitude, accordin... Mehr ...