Sathiakumar N, Delzell E, Abdalla O
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294, USA.
J Occup Environ Med. 1998 Sep;40(9):808-13. doi: 10.1097/00043764-199809000-00010.
This study evaluated the comparability of underlying cause of death codes obtained from NDI Plus, a new feature of the National Death Index (NDI), with codes assigned by two study nosologists or by a National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) nosologist. Two study nosologists and an NCHS nosologist independently reviewed the death certificates of 493 decedents and assigned each an International Classification of Diseases code for the underlying cause of death. Using the NCHS codes as the reference standard, we determined discrepancy rates for NDI Plus codes; for each study nosologist's original codes; and for "final study codes," derived by comparing the two sets of study nosologists' codes and resolving discrepancies by using the NCHS code. For all causes of death combined, the discrepancy rate was 4% for NDI Plus codes, 4% for the final study codes and 6%-7% for the study nosologists' original codes. The discrepancy rate for selecting the appropriate cancer site was 1% for NDI Plus codes and 3% for the final study codes. For noncancer conditions, the discrepancy rate was 5% for NDI Plus codes and 4% for the final study codes. NDI Plus underlying cause of death codes are comparable to codes developed using standard but more cumbersome procedures. The use of NDI Plus codes may enhance the validity of comparisons of an occupational cohort's mortality rates with national or state rates.
本研究评估了从国家死亡指数（NDI）的一项新功能NDI Plus获取的根本死因编码，与由两名研究疾病分类学家或国家卫生统计中心（NCHS）的一名疾病分类学家所指定编码之间的可比性。两名研究疾病分类学家和一名NCHS疾病分类学家独立审查了493名死者的死亡证明，并为每位死者指定了一个国际疾病分类根本死因编码。以NCHS编码作为参考标准，我们确定了NDI Plus编码、每位研究疾病分类学家的原始编码以及通过比较两组研究疾病分类学家的编码并使用NCHS编码解决差异而得出的“最终研究编码”的差异率。对于所有合并的死因，NDI Plus编码的差异率为4%，最终研究编码为4%，研究疾病分类学家的原始编码为6%-7%。选择合适癌症部位的差异率，NDI Plus编码为1%，最终研究编码为3%。对于非癌症疾病，NDI Plus编码的差异率为5%，最终研究编码为4%。NDI Plus根本死因编码与使用标准但更繁琐程序得出的编码具有可比性。使用NDI Plus编码可能会提高职业队列死亡率与国家或州死亡率比较的有效性。
