Evaluation of the quality of mortality information by unspecified accidents and events of undetermined intent in a metropolis of Southeastern Brazil

AbstractIntroduction Mortality data are important for monitoring violence, making it possible to as-sess the trends and the impact of interventions towards its reduction. The objec-tive of the study is to assess the quality of the filling out and codification of thedeath certificates for unspecified accidents and events of undetermined intent inthe city of S. Paulo in 1996. Methods Death certificates on which the underlying cause of death (UCD) given was anunspecified accident (ICD-10 X59) or an event of undetermined intent (ICD-10Y10-Y34) were selected for investigation at the Legal Medicine Institute (IML).After consulting the police reports which accompany the corpses to the IML, theautopsy reports and other legal forms, these were analysed and the UCD wasrecoded. Results For unspecified accidents, 53.2% were changed to a specified cause: 15.1% dueto pedestrians injured in traffic accidents, 17.5% due to other traffic accidentsand 14.5% due to falls. Homicides and suicides constituted 9.8%. In 20.9% noadditional information was found. For events of undetermined intent, 2/3 had noclarification; in 1/3 of the cases, the underlying cause changed to falls (10.6%),homicides (7.5%) and pedestrians injured in transport accidents (6.7%).