Testing Death Registration Completeness in a Group of Premature Infants

Abstract

State Board ofHealth for some time has been concerned with the under-registration of deaths, particu¬ larly of deaths among the very young.This study, conducted in 1959 with the cooperation of the State board of health, was designed with the following objectives in mind: .To develop a method of determining the com¬ pleteness of registration of deaths of infants weighing 1,500 gm. or less at birth. .Insofar as possible, to use the method devel¬ oped to measure completeness of registration of deaths for this group of infants.. To determine, for a selected group of pre¬ mature infants, the relationship between under- registration of deaths and such factors as birth weight, age at death, race, and marital status of the mother.At the time of the 1950 census of popula¬ tion, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the Na¬ tional Office of Vital Statistics, and the North Carolina State Board of Health conducted a test of birth registration completeness (1).This study revealed that birth certificates were on file for 97.6 percent of white infants and for Mr. Rogers is director, bureau of vital statistics,