American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on December 12, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(5):532-539; doi:10.1093/aje/kwm331
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PRACTICE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY |
Internet Death Notices as a Novel Source of Mortality Surveillance Data
1 University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA
2 Division of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
3 University of Pittsburgh Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and University of Pittsburgh Molecular Medicine Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
4 Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Correspondence to Marshall B. Boak, 706 Davol Road, Stevensville, MD 21666 (e-mail: Marshallboak{at}yahoo.com).
Received for publication April 22, 2007. Accepted for publication October 16, 2007.
Concerns about bioterrorism and influenza have focused attention on identifying novel data sources to enhance public health surveillance. The authors evaluated free Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Internet death notices for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, as a potentially timely source of mortality data. Data abstracted from Internet death notices for 1998–2001 were compared with mortality records from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Approximately 75% (44,294/60,281) of state records had death notices, and 91% (44,294/48,651) of death notices corresponded to a state record. There was a 2-day median lag from the date of death to online death notice publication. The date of death, gender, age, and name data were nearly 90% accurate and 60–100% complete. Increasing education and age were independently associated with increased Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporting. Being non-White, female, or a nursing home resident were independently associated with decreased reporting. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Internet death notices provided accurate, timely mortality data for nearly three fourths of all Allegheny County deaths.
data collection; death; Internet; mortality; obituary; sentinel surveillance; vital statistics
Abbreviations: CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; EDR, electronic death registration; MCD, minor civil division code; OR, odds ratio; PPV, positive predictive value