title: Hyaline membrane disease is underreported in a linked birth-infant death certificate database.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compared the Missouri State Department of Health linked birth-infant death certificate database and medical records with respect to recording hyaline membrane disease in very low-birth-weight infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records for all 976 infants weighing 500 to 1500 g who were born to St. Louis, Mo, residents in 1989, 1991, and 1992.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighteen percent of the birth certificates and 54% of the medical records documented hyaline membrane disease, resulting in 34% sensitivity and 99% specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Missouri State Department of Health birth-infant death certificate database underestimates the incidence of hyaline membrane disease, which suggest that national statistics for the disease are also underestimated.
authors.affiliation: Edward Mallinckrodt Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamvas
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DeBaun
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schramm
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Cole
mesh_terms: D001719:Birth Certificates; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003644:Death Certificates; D006801:Humans; D006819:Hyaline Membrane Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D008923:Missouri / Q000453:epidemiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity