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Non-registration of deaths as a source of error in mortality data in the Irish Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

John F Connolly ,
Anne Cullen ,
Josephine Scott  and
Deirdre Smithwick
John F Connolly
Affiliation:
St. Mary's Hospital, Castlebar, Co Mayo, Ireland
Deirdre Smithwick
Affiliation:
St. Mary's Hospital, Castlebar, Co Mayo, Ireland
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Abstract

Objectives: To ascertain whether or not there had been any improvement in the registration of deaths in Co. Mayo, Ireland, since 1970. At the time is was shown that 7.5% of deaths, in a sample of parishes in the west of Ireland had not been registered.

Method: A list of all those who died and were buried in Co. Mayo in 1992, was obtained and compared with a list of deaths registered in that and subsequent years.

Results: One hundred and twenty eight deaths (11.5%) occurring in the county in 1992 had not been registered by the time of this study in 1997.

Conclusions: Non-registration of deaths continues to pose serious problems for research and for the planning of health services. It is suggested that the government introduce legislation to address the issue. Registration of deaths should be standardised throughout the EU.

Keywords

Non-registrationMortality dataSuicide research
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 16 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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