Identifying Deaths Before 1979 Using the Social Security Administration Death Master File

Details

• Personal Author:
  Schnorr, Teresa M. ; Steenland, Kyle
• Description:
  For cohort studies, the Social Security Administration (SSA) traditionally has been the principal source of deaths that occurred before 1979. In 1988, the SSA abolished a system that provided a relatively complete accounting of deaths and replaced it with the Death Master File. We examined the completeness of the SSA Death Master File by comparing it with the U.S. Vital Statistics records and by searching the SSA Death Master File for known decedents from seven cohorts. Overall, only 53% of reported U.S. deaths and 75% of known deaths in our seven cohorts were included in the SSA Death Master File. Ascertainment was better after 1975 (89-95%). A re-analysis of two cohorts that excluded deaths before 1979 not found in the SSA Death Master File resulted in 20-35% decreases in both standardized mortality ratios and dose-response trends. Although the SSA system before 1988 provided relatively complete vital status information, the SSA Death Master File is inadequate for vital status determination. New cohorts with a substantial number of deaths before the inception of the National Death Index in 1979 will be most seriously affected. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Case Reports Epidemiology Mortality Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety
• Keywords:
  Case-studies Dose-response Mortality-data Mortality-rates Risk-analysis Statistical-analysis
• ISSN:
  1044-3983
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  321-323
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033968
• Citation:
  Epidemiology 1997 May; 8(3):321-323
• Contact Point Address:
  Teresa Schnorr, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Pkwy, Cincinnati, OH, 45226
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Epidemiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e02cab93f342ba99cb20203a21667b228ef7d24e910c8e8deaea3240a063a527ada6fb382afbc080d802f5806b7ebb3796081a3e788ca198aa94754fda68c690
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189364/cdc_189364_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 829.15 KB ]