Monitoring mortality in general practice: a simpler solution?

BACKGROUND: Infant mortality of ethnic minorities in The Netherlands (10% of the population) is twice as high as in the indigenous Dutch population. Causes of death are different for the diverse migrant groups. METHODS: Hospital records of nearly 600 infants who died in the four major cities between 1995 and 1998 were analysed according to the cause of death, ethnicity, and possible heredity. RESULTS: There was a four to five times higher proportion of hereditary causes of death in the Moroccan and Turkish population, compared with the Surinamese/Antillians and indigenous Dutch. CONCLUSIONS: This might be explained by a high inbreeding coefficient as three-quarters of the marriage partners are recruited from the home villages and between a quarter and a third of these marriages are between first cousins. Health promotion activities in The Netherlands have not been successful so far. Preconception genetic counselling might help in reducing these differences.

Cause of Death↗

PubMed2005

Validity of maternal and perinatal risk factors reported on fetal death certificates.

We sought to estimate the accuracy, relative to maternal medical records, of perinatal risk factors recorded on fetal death certificates. We conducted a validation study of fetal death certificates among women who experienced fetal deaths between 1996 and 2001. The number of previous births, established diabetes, chronic hypertension, maternal fever, performance of autopsy, anencephaly, and Down syndrome had very high accuracy, while placental cord conditions and other chromosomal abnormalities were reported inaccurately. Additional population-based studies are needed to identify strategies to improve fetal death certificate data.

Cause of Death↗

PubMed2005

Underreporting of pregnancy-associated deaths.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cause of Death↗