Differentials in death count records by databases in Brazil in 2010

OBJECTIVE: To compare the death counts from three sources of information on mortality available in Brazil in 2010, the Mortality Information System (SIM -Sistema de Informacoes sobre Mortalidade), Civil Registration Statistic System (RC -Sistema de Estatisticas de Resgistro Civil), and the 2010 Demographic Census at various geographical levels, and to confirm the association between municipal socioeconomic characteristics and the source which showed the highest death count. METHODS: This is a descriptive and comparative study of raw data on deaths in the SIM, RC and 2010 Census databases, the latter held in Brazilian states and municipalities between August 2009 and July 2010. The percentage of municipalities was confirmed by the database showing the highest death count. The association between the source of the highest death count and socioeconomic indicators -the Indice de Privacao Brasileiro (IBP - Brazilian Deprivation Index) and Indice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal (IHDM - Municipal Human Development Index) -was performed by bivariate choropleth and Moran Local Index of Spatial Association (LISA) cluster maps. RESULTS: Confirmed that the SIM is the database with the highest number of deaths counted for all Brazilian macroregions, except the North, in which the highest coverage was from the 2010 Census. Based on the indicators proposed, in general, the Census showed a higher coverage of deaths than the SIM and the RC in the most deprived (highest IBP values) and less developed municipalities (lowest IDHM values) in the country. CONCLUSION: The results highlight regional inequalities in how the databases chosen for this study cover death records, and the importance of maintaining the issue of mortality on the basic census questionnaire. DESCRIPTORS: Mortality Registries. Information Storage and Retrieval. Health Information Systems.

Automated summary

The study compared death counts from three sources of information on mortality in Brazil in 2010 and confirmed that the Mortality Information System had the highest number of deaths recorded for most Brazilian regions. The 2010 Census showed higher death coverage in the most deprived and less developed municipalities in the country compared to the other sources. The results highlight regional inequalities in mortality database coverage and emphasize the importance of including mortality issues in basic census questionnaires.