A comparison of death certificate out-of-hospital coronary heart disease death with physician-adjudicated sudden cardiac death.
The number of deaths due to out-of-hospital coronary heart disease as determined by death certificates was compared with the number physician-adjudicated sudden cardiac deaths in the Framingham Heart Study from 1950 to 1999. Out-of-hospital coronary heart disease deaths overestimated sudden cardiac death by 47%, suggesting that out-of-hospital coronary heart disease death rates derived from death certificates should be interpreted with caution.
Fox
Caroline S
CS
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA. foxca@nhlbi.nih.gov
Evans
Jane C
JC
Larson
Martin G
MG
Lloyd-Jones
Donald M
DM
O'Donnell
Christopher J
CJ
Sorlie
Paul D
PD
Manolio
Teri A
TA
Kannel
William B
WB
Levy
Daniel
D
D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D003644:Death Certificates; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians