title: European study of the certification and coding of causes of death of six clinical case histories of diabetic patients. EURODIAB Subarea C Study Group.
abstract: This study was designed to investigate the large differences in diabetes mortality rates in Europe. In each of the participating countries (France, Germany, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland-UK, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Scotland-UK, Switzerland) a random sample of certifying physicians was asked to certify the causes of death of six case histories which described the deaths of diabetic patients; the responses from an average of 220 physicians per country were analysed. These registered causes were then coded nationally and the underlying cause was compared with that following a central recoding. Overall 28% of the physicians surveyed recorded diabetes on the death certificate as the underlying cause of death--France was 25% below this overall average and Germany 21% above. The national coding of diabetes as the underlying cause of death differed from the central recoding with a comparative undercoding of almost 40% in Romania, 30% in Northern Ireland and 25% in Switzerland; in contrast, there was an overcoding of diabetes by 80% in The Netherlands and 60% in the Republic of Ireland. After adjusting for central recoding, in part an adjustment for certification habits, the national coding from this simulation study was able to explain 35% of the variation in the diabetes mortality rates. With such differences in the coding of diabetes, the currently published mortality rates for diabetes are not directly comparable between European countries; some suggestions are made for the reduction of the intercountry differences in the collection and analysis of mortality data for diabetes.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U21, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balkau
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jougla
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Papoz
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D003644:Death Certificates; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000145:classification* / Q000401:mortality*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires