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Sensitivity and Specificity of Death Certificate Diagnoses for Dementing Illnesses, 1988–1990
Author(s) -
Macera Caroline A.,
Sun Richard K. P.,
Yeager Kimberly K.,
Brandes Debra A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1992.tb02015.x
Subject(s) - death certificate , medicine , dementia , medical diagnosis , gerontology , public health , medical record , psychiatry , disease , retrospective cohort study , cause of death , pediatrics , pathology
Objective To evaluate the extent to which mortality data, which is often used to track secular trends for specific diseases, underestimates the prevalence of dementia. Design Retrospective analysis of existing data. Setting Department of Mental Health inpatient facilities in South Carolina. Subjects Inpatients at Department of Mental Health facilities who were listed in the South Carolina Statewide Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Registry and who died between 1988 and 1990 ( n = 450). Main Outcome Measures Sensitivity and specificity of dementia diagnoses on death certificates compared to medical record diagnoses for inpatients with a pre‐mortem dementia diagnosis. Results Twenty‐three percent of death certificates contained any dementia diagnosis (104/450). The sensitivity of death certificates varied by type of dementia (28 percent for Alzheimer's disease; 8 percent for multi‐infarct dementia) as well as by race, sex, and age. Conclusions Mortality statistics substantially underestimate the prevalence of dementing illnesses and do not fully represent the public health burden of dementia.