I

NATIONAL CENTER Series.2

For HEALTH STATISTICS Number 29

VITAL and HEALTH STATISTICS

DATA EVALUATION AND METHODS RESEARCH

comparability of

Age on the Death Certificate

and Matching CensusRecord

United States- May-August 1960

Comparisons of age as stated on the death certificate with

age as stated an the matching census record by color, sex,

geographic region, and specified causes of death. Based on

a sample of death certificates for deaths occurring in the

United States during May-August 1960 matched to 1960 census records.

Washington, D.C. June 1968

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE Public Health Service

Wilbur J. Cohen Wil Iiam H. Stewart

Secretary Surgeon General
Public HeaIth Service Publication No. 1UO()-Series 2.X(I. 29
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

THEODORE D.WOOLSEY, Director

PHILIP S. LAWR ENCE, SC. D., Associate Director

OSWALD K. SAGEN, PH. D.,, Assistant Director for Health Statistics Development

WALT R. SIMMONS, M.A.,Assistant Director for Research and Scientific Development

ALICE M. WATERHOUSE, M. D., Medical Consu~tarzt

JAMES E. KELLY, D. D. S., Dental Advisor

LOUIS R. STOLCIS, M. A., Executive O//icer

MARGERY R. CUNNINGHAM, h/ormution O//icer

OFFICE OF HEALTH STATISTICS ANALYSIS

IWAO M. MO RIYAMA, Ph. D., Director

DEAN E. KRUEGER, Deputy Director

Public Health Service Publication No. 1000-Series 2-No. 29

Library o/ Congress Catalog Card Number 68-60057
PREFACE

This report is one of a series of comparability studies on selected

items from the death certificate and the matching census record for a

sample of deaths which occurred in the United States during May-August

1960. The data are a byproduct of the study, Social and Economic Differentials in Mortality, United States, 1960, being carried out by Evelyn

M. Kitagawa and Philip M. Hauser at the Population Research and

Training Center, University of Chicago, in cooperation with the National

Center for Health Statistics and the Bureau of the Census supprted by

PHS Grant RG-7134 (later changed to CH-00074). The items for which

comparability is being stu&ed are residence, age, marital status, race,

nativity, and country of origin.

As a latecomer to this project, the author gratefully acknowledges

the tremendous assistance provided by Lillian Guralnick, now of the

Office of Research and Statistics in the Social Security Administration,

and Evelyn M. Kitagawa who were both involved in this study from its

inception.

...

111
SYMBOLS

Data not available ------------------------ ---

Category not applicable ------------------ . . .

Quantity zero ---------------------------- -

Quantity more than Obutless than O.05----- 0.0

Figure doesnot meet standards of

reliabilityor precision ------------------

*
CONTENTS

Page

Preface --------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------

Accuracy of Age Information -----------------------------------------

Measuring AgeComparabili~ -------------------------------------------

Age Comparabili~ Resdts ---------------------------------------------

Sex, Color, and Age-------------------------------------------------

Geographic Region---------------------------------------.-----:-----

Cause ofDeati ------------------------------------------------------

Results of Related Sin&es ----------------------------------------------

Evaluation of Accuracy ofAge-Specific Death Rate---- ---------------------

Discussion -----------------------------------------------------------

Sumary -------------------------------------------------------------

References ------- ------------------- ------- ------- --------- ------- ---

Bibliography ---------------------------------------------------------

Detailed Tables------------------------:------------------------------

Technical Appendix ----------------------------------------------------

Desi~of theStudy --------------------------------------------------

Definitions ---------------------------------------------------------

Unmatched Deatis --------------------------------------------------

Sources and Limitations of Data --------------------------------------

Alternative Method for Adjusting Death Rates Using Comparison of

Res~nse Results --------------------------------------------------

...

111

1

2

2

2

4

9

12

14

18

25

26

27

27

29

45

45

45

45

47

49
THIS REPORT discusses diflevences between age as stated on the

death certificate and age as stated on the matching census vecord and

the effect of these diffwences on the published age-specific death rates.

The data presented in this repovt are based ona sample of deaths which

occu~red in the United States during May-August 1960.

Analysis of the data by means of two measures (net difference rates and

pevcent agreement) involved exumining age comparability by a num bev

of chuvacten”stics of the decedent: age, sex, CO1OV,geo~aphic re~”on,

and cause of death. Age comparability was relatively highev fov white

decedents than for nonwhite, especially fov older nonwhite decedents,

and slightly highev fov male decedents than for female. Theve weve

some ~e~”onal differences in levels of comparability: they were loweY

in the Northeast Regz”onfov white decedents and lowev in the South fov

nonwhite decedents than in the othev ve~”ons. Age comparability was

highe-r among pevsons dying from accidents, poisonings, and violence

than among persons dying from major cavdiovasculav-vewj diseases.

The results of this study indicate that if the censws vecovd age is used

as both the nume-vatov and denominator of the age-specific death vate,

the observed excess of movtility for the older white population com -

paved with the olde-v nonwhite population, if not revevsed, is considerably diminished.
COMPARABILITY OF

AGE ON THE DEATH CERTIFICATEAND

MATCHING CENSUS RECORD

Thea Zelman Hambright, Office of Health Statistics Analysis

iNTRODUCTION

The major objectives of this report are (1)

to evaluate the comparability of age as stated on

the death certificate and as stated on the census

record for the same individual, and (2) to evaluate the accuracy of the age-specific death rates

in light of the age comparability results.

In the past most of the measures of health

status have been provided by mortality statistics.

The census record and the death certificate are

the basic sources of data for these statistics, and

the adequacy of these records in terms of completeness of coverage and accuracy of information

is therefore important.

As far as death certificate coverage is concerned, “although there has never been a reliable

evaluation made of death registration completeness, it has always been assumed that virtually

all deaths are reported in the United States. It is

unlikely that more than 1 or 2 percent of deaths

go unrecorded.” 1 On the other hand, considerable

effort has been expended to determine the completeness of the census enumeration. 2-5 Depending on the method used, undercoverage rates

were estimated to be from 1.9 to 2.3 percent of

the enumerated population in 1960.2’6 However,

these figures represent coverage of the total

population, and various portions of the total may

seriously differ in their coverage rates. For

example, the estimated number of individuals

thought to have been missed was much higher for

nonwhite individuals and for certain age groups

than for the population as a whole. An analysis of

coverage errors for any subgroups of the population—such as age, sex, and color groups—

necessarily involved consideration of content

errors; that is, the number of persons reported

in a given age, sex. or color group was affected

not only by the degree to which they were missed

but also by errors in age, sex, or color reporting

and tabulation.g

Insofar as this report deals with the evaluation of age statements, the following discussion of

the accuracy of the death certificate and census

record relates primarily to considerations of

accuracy of age statements.

The accuracy of age information on both

records has been questioned repeatedly, particularly with regard to the subject of mortality among

the nonwhite ~pulati.on. In contrast with the overall picture of large excesses in death rates for the

nonwhite population compared with the white,

death rates for the white group exceeded those for

the nonwhite at ages 75 years and over. This

reversal at older ages has existed as far back as

1900 and still existed as of 1965 to an even greater

degree. It was suggested on the basis of 1963

age-specific death rates that the errors in age

reported on the census record for the nonwhite

population do not correspond to the errors on the

death certificate. When a set of “correctedNegro

populations” developed by Bogue7 was used, the

difference noted at older ~ges was not eliminated.
Accuracy of Age Inform cition

Is the reported age on either the census

record or the death certificate inaccurate? If so,

is the age statement on the census record more

nearly accurate than that on the death certificate

or vice versa?

From a two-way comparison of response, such

a judgment is difficult unless some a priori I

reason existed for believing one record to be

superior to the other. One acceptable criterion

for superiority would be the extent to which one

of the two records was more in agreement than

the other record with age as derived from the

matching birth certificate. However, the birth

certificate is sometimes impossible to obtain,

especially for older people, and this kind of check

was not done. Another criterion would be how

closely Imth of the records compared with a third,

independent source. Although such information

was available for the 1960 census on a nationwide

basis (the CPS-Census Match4 ), nothing comparable was done for the death certificate.

On the other hand, while it would be important

to know which record was more nearly accurate,

the results would not permit correction of the

death rates. That is, beyond the purpose of comparing information on the two records is the more

pragmatic purpose of evaluating the accuracy of

the death rates on the basis of this comparison.

Even if it were known that the age on the death

certificate is correct, it cannot be used to adjust

the age of the total population which contains a

large number of living persons of which only a

small proportion die in a short period of time.

However, the reverse is possible, and, in fact, is

the procedure used here. The evaluation involves

adjusting the death certificate information in the

numerator of the death rate to the information

contained in the census files for those decedents,

thereby creating a rate in which the numerator

and denominator of the death rate are based on

census age reports.

Thus no statement is made or implied about

which record is the more accurate but, rather,

the differences between them and the effect of

these differences in moving from the actual age

on the death certificate to one which is consistent

with what was reported on the census record are

the subjects of this report.

MEASURING AGE COMPARABILITY

Correspondence or lack of correspondence

between recorded ages on the census record and

the death certificate represents the combined

effect of the differences in circumstances between

the two records surrounding the collection, response, and processing of data. For 1960 the 100-

percent census enumeration (stage I) forms were

generally filled out at borne, where the subject,

if riot supplying the information himself, could be

consulted. Age information was recorded as date

of birth; returned forms were processed mechanically, and items not completed were assigned

responses (1.7 percent of the 1960 census records

had age estimated).

Personal items on the death certificate were

usually filled out by a funeral director to whom

information was generally provided by the next of

kin; age was recorded in completed years as of

the last birthday; completed forms were manually

coded and punched; and items not filled out were

left incomplete (.04 percent of 1960 deat:h certificates had no age stated).

The data used here are a byproduct of the

study, Social and Economic Differentials in Mor -

talit y, United States, 1960, in which a sample of

all deaths that occurred in the United States during the 4 months of May-August 1960 was selected

and manually searched in the 1960 census for

matching records. Almost 80 percent of these

decedents were found in the 100-percent census

enumeration (stage 1).

For the purposes of this study, two important

changes were made in the usual census procedures. First, the census data used were unedited,

manually coded responses with no assignments

made for nonresponse. Second, the date of birth

was converted to age at death, and a correction

was made for those records in which a birthday

occurred between the date of the census and the

date of death. ~us the unmeasured error pro.

duced by coding and card punching may be expected to be about t+e same in both sets of records.

The adjustment of age on the census record to age

at date of death simplified the comparison of age

information.

Two measures are used throughout this report to evaluate age comparability. The net difference rate measures the difference in the num2
ber of individuals in an age group between the

death certificate classification and the census

record classification relative to the number

reported on the census record:

‘1- Ci x 100, where di = Number of decedents in the

cl

qtudy group classified as

age i on the death certificate.

c ~=Number of decedents in

the study group classified

as age i on the census

record.

The net difference rate here is algebraically

equivalent to the “Index of Net Shift Relative to

CPS Class” used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census

in evaluating the ~960 census data in light of the

results of the Current Population Survey. 4 Theoretically, the range for this measure is from

-100.0 percent to positive infinity. It is conceivable, but highly unlikely, that there would be no

individuals in an age group. However, where age

is analyzed by detailed characteristics or where

characteristics other than age are analyzed, it is

possible for the rate to become infinity. In this

study no age category on one record contained

more than twice the number of individuals than the

other record, apd thus, empirically, the rate never

approached an absolute value of 100.0 percent. The

comparison is made with respect to the marginal

totals of the data according to each record, as

shown below.

Death certificate

I 1

Census record Number Number

Total in age

not in

group i

age

group i

Tota$----- 1

di I

Number in age

group i ------ Ci Si c, – Sf

Number not in

age group i -- Ci,-si

A net difference rate of zero means that both

records had the same mrnber of individuals in

that age group. However, no indication is given as

to whether the same individuals are in that age

&oup on both records.

This measure may be used to evaluate the

accuracy of age-specific death rates with the

condition that the data to be evaluated have the

same age distribution as the data from which the

net difference rate was derived. Under these circumstances, the net difference rate indicates the

direction and the size of the difference between

the actual age-specific death rate where numerator and denominator come from different sources

and a rate that would result if both numerator

and denominator came from the census record.

For example, a negative net difference rate of

-5.0 percent suggests that the actual age-specific

death rate is too low. The number of deaths at

that age on the death certificate is less than the

number of deaths at that age according to the

census records for those decedents. An agespecific death rate computed from age as reported

in census re’cords would be 5.0 percent greater

than the actual age-specific death rate.

ne. second measure, percent agreement, is

a more direct measure of the correspondence

between records. It indicates the extent to which

the sqme individuals are classified in the same

age group on both records:

~ x 100, where s,=-Number of decedents in the 1

study group classified by both

the census record and the

death certificate as age i

Ci= Number of decedents in the

study group classified as age

i on the census record.

1P this case since only the agreements are

considered (see the above diagram), there is no

o~portunity for differences between records to

cancel each other as is possible in the net difference rate. The numerical value of one measure does not determine the numerical value of

the other except when the value of the net difference rate is -100.0 percent; then the percent

agreement must be zero.

3
The tables in

summary figures

the text of the report contain

of percent agreement which

were obtained by cumulating the number of rec -

orals identically classified in the specified age

intervals over a number of age categories and

dividing by the total number of census records

in these age intervals. For example, percent

agreement for 5-year age intervals for decedents

45-64 years of age would be calculated as follows:

i=60–64

Esi

i=45—49

x 100.

i=60—64

Xci

i=45—49

Comparisons were made between death certif icate and matching stage I unedited census record information for inflated sample data. (See

Technical Appendix.)

AGE COMPARABILITY RESULTS

Sex, Color, and Age

Percent agreement. -Slightly more than t’X?othirds, 69 percent, of the total study group had

the same single year of age on both the census

record and the death certificate. Considerable

variation around this overall figure existed for the

component sex and color groups. Substantially

less agreement was found for the nonwhite group

for all ages (1-99 years) than for the white. Agreement levels were somewhat lower for females

than for males although differences between males

and females wsre not so pronounced as those between the white and nonwhite groups (table A).

Three-fourths of the w!]ite males had the same

single year of age reported on both records as

compared with less than one-half of the nonwhite

males; two-thirds of the white females had the

same single year of age on both records as compared with a little more than one-third of the nonwhite females.

It should be established at this point that the

designation of an individual as white or nonwhite

is in accordance with the classification used by

the Bureau of the Census. Although there were

some differences in color assignments on the

census record and the death certificate, they were

very small: 0.2 percent of the decedents reported

as white on the census record and 2.3 percent of

those reported as nonwhite were reported differently on the death certificate (preliminary estimates from another report in this series) ~Results

on age comparability would not be affected by

color discrepancies; for example, if there were

lower age agreement among the 0.2 percent of

decedents reported as nonwhite on the death certificate but white on the census record, it is unlikely that it would contribute to lowering the age

agreement level of the total white group.

In addition to large differences in the amount

of agreement in same single year of age between

the color groups, there were at least three major

differences in the patterns of disagreement. For

the white group, agreement remained fairly constant with increasing age. For the nonwhite group,

however, there was less likely to be agreement

between the two records as age increased. While

percent agreement was at the same level for both

nonwhite and white decedents at age 1, it declined

rapidly thereafter for nonwhite decedents and,

consequently, the difference between the color

groups was greater at the older ages (fig. 1).

Second, age for the white group as reported on the

death certificate was usually within 1 year of that

reported on the census record when the two records did not agree. The difference was usually

greater by more than 1 year for the nonwhite

group, however, particularly for decedents aged

45 years and over. For example, in this older

age group the age on the death certificate was

within 1 year of that on the census record for 91

percent of white males but only for 61 percent of

nonwhite males. And finally, where age statements

between records did not agree, the age reported

on the death certificate was more often older than

the age given on the census record for white decedents of all ages as well as for nonwhite decedents

under age 45. In contrast, the age given on the

death certificate was more often younger than the

age on the census record for nonwhite decedents

over age 45.

Data for single years of age are subject to

errors which may contribute to differences in

correspondence between records. One such error

is age heaping, or the tendency for reported ages

to be concentrated at particular ages or at groups

of ages ending in the same digit. Distributions of

deaths by single years of age as reported on the

census record and on the death certificate indicate

that heaping is found in varying degrees in the

four sex-color groups and that the extent and the

4
Table A. Percent distribution of matched census records, by age agreement with death

certificates according to color, sex, and age: United States, May-August 1960

Death certificate age

(relative to census age)

All ages, 1-99 years -------------------

Same single year of age----------------------

1 year younger --------------------------- ----

1 year older -------- -------- -------- -------. -

Younger or older by more than 1 year ---------

1-44 years -------- -------- -------- -----

Same single year of age----------------------

1 year younger -------- -------- -------- -------

1 year’ older -------- -------- -------- -------- -

Younger or older by more than 1 year ---------

45-99 years -------- -------- ------------

Same single year of age----------------------

1 year younger -------- -------- -------- -------

1 year older --.----- -------- -------- -------- -

Younger or older by more than 1 year ---------

particular ages at which heaping occurs differ

from one record to theother (figs .2and 3).

Generally speaking, although heaping existed

on both records, it was less pronounced on the

census record distribution than on the death certificate distribution. This can be partially explainedby the fact that date ofbirth was used for

the age item on the census record as opposed to

completed years as oflast birthday for this item

on the death certificate. Another reason maybe

that when the informant on the death certificate

was uncertain about thedeceased’s exact age,he

would tend to report the age in round numbers.

This tendency shows up as a preference forages

ending inO and5 andis seenin both distributions

although to a more marked degree in tie death

certificate distribution. In addition there appears

to be specific preference for ages 59and600n

both records for all sex and color groups, which

may reflect a preference for 1900 asthe yearof

birth. On the whole, heaping is greater for feTotal White Nonwhite

study

group Male Female Male Female

Percent distribution

100.0

68.8

8.1

1%:

100.0

74.8

6.7

H

100.0

68.1

8.2

1;:!

100.0

74.5

;::

8.9

100.0

79.0

:::

7.0

100.0

74.0

;:;

9.1

100.0

67.9

1::;

13.3

100.0

76.8

6.5

::;

100.0

67.1

1%;

13.7

100.0

44.7

10.5

10.3

34.5

100.0

61.3

9.5

11.0

5%-.2

100.0

40.5

10.8

10.1

38.6

100.0

36.9

10.7

4%;

100.0

:;.:

11:8

20.2

100.0

31.9

10.7

4%:

males than males and greater for nonwhite individuals than for white.

Percent agreement figures for single years

of age discussed almve are affected by the extent

to which heaping occurs onone record more than

the other. While age heaping errors are partof

the total difference in age information between

records, they can be minimized by combining

ages into intervals. Since ages are usually tabulated by 5- or 10-year intervals for most vital

statistics purposes, the effects ofageheapingand

the lack of agreement in single years of age

found here would probably not seriously distort

thepattemsin broader age groups.

When ages were combined into 5-year intervals, 86 percent of the total study group were

classified in the same agegroupson bahrecords.

Afurther but smaller improvementto 90 percent

agreement occurred when ages were combined

into 10-year intervals. This improvement in

agreement occurred for each sex and colorgroup
100 711] 11111 11!1 11111 II II II Ill 111111111 1111111[1 11111 [111 1111 11 [11 [11111111 111111111 111111111”

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~40–

u

a.

20 –

1- 1

0 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 1,11111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 99

SINGLE YEARS OF AGE ON CENSUS RECORD

I00 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 1111 11111 111111111

I

o 111111111111111111111111 [1111 I 11111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111111 111111!11 111111111

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 99

SINGLE YEARS OF AGE ON CENSUS RECGRO

Figure 1. Percent agreement in age between the death certificate and the matching census record, by

color and sex.

6
6,500

6,000

r

5,000

t

2,000

!,000

o

6.500

6.000

5,000

co

z 4,000 i-

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6,000

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1,000

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60 i

c

DEATH CERTIFICATE SINGLE YE ARS OF AGE CENSUS RECORD SINGLE YEARS OF AGE

—

Figure 2. Distributions of deaths by age as stated on the death certificate aml as stated on the matching

census record for male decedents, by color.

7
6,500

6,000

5,000

I

6,500

White female — qQ130

ao

‘+

80

I

— 5,000

?9

!? 4,000

1-

a

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a 3,000

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6,500 I

60

Irrl

6300

6,000 —

1

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5,000 —

1 1

5,C)O0

I i3’c)oo

DEATH CERTIFICATE SINGLE YEARS OF AGE CENSUS RECORD SINGLE YEARS OF AGE

Figure 3. Distributions ofdeaths by age as stated on the death certificate and as stated on the matching

census record for female decedents, by color.

8
along with some narrowing of the gap in color

differences (table B).

The relationship between age and degree of

agreement noted for single years of age was also

seen in the 10-year age intervals. While the

agreement between records was relatively high

and fairly stable from one age interval to another

for the white group, for the nonwhite, agreement

declined with increasing age. For example, while

about 95 percent of the nonwhite group in the

census age interval 1-4 years were similarly

reported on the death certificate, only 61 percent

of those in the census age interval 85-99 years

were reported in the same age group on the death

certificate.

Net difference Yate. —In addition to the fact

that reported ages were often different between

records for the nonwhite group, particularly at

ages 45 and over, age as reported on the death

certificate was frequently younger than that reported on the census record for the same individual at ages over 45. This finding is implied by the

pattern of the net difference rates (fig. 4 and table

4), where the death certificate showed considerably more decedents aged 45-64 years than the

census record and considerably fewer aged 75-99.

The number of nonwhite decedents aged 65-74

years was almost the same on both records, This

is because there were more decedents aged 65-

69 years but fewer at ages 70-74 years on the

death certificate than on the census record. Thus

the differences between records for these two

5-year age intervals were cancelled when the

ages were grouped into the 10- year interval 65-

74. (See table 1 for data on 5-year age intervals.)

The implications of these findings are clear

insofar as these data apply to all nonwhite decedents for 1960: the number of deaths for nonwhite

individuals aged 75-99 years is substantially

understated relative to the number of nonwhite

decedents reported in this age range on the census

record. Consequently, Xe published age-specific

death rates for this group are lower than rates

based on census ages. The pattern for the combined age group 65-99 years is the same as that

for ages 75-99 years although the understatement

on the death certificate relative to the census

record (and hence, the net difference rate) is not

as great. In a later section the effect of these

Table B. Percent agreement in age between

the death certificate and the matching

census record, by color, sex, and specified age intervals: United States, MayAugust 1960

5-year 10-year

Color and sex

Single age age

years inter- intervals vals

I

Percent agreement

Total study

group -------

l===++=

White male ----- 74.5 89.9 93.0

White femsle--- 67.9 85.8 90.5

Nonwhite male-- 44,7 68.3 77.1

Nonwhite

female -------- 36.9 60.4 71.5

findings on the age-specific death rates is further

investigated.

No clear pattern was observed for the white

group in the net difference rates which oscillated

around O,0 for most of the age intervals. Thus

results in age comparability were rather differeqt for the two color groups. The important

differences were (1) the rapid decline in agreement with increasing age for nonwhite decedents

in contrast with fairly constant agreement at each

age for white decedents; and (2) the large negative

net difference rates for older nonwhite decedents

arising from the reporting of younger ages on the

death certificate than on the census record for

individuals over age 45. Because of these findings,

statements about age comparability between records need to be made separately for the white and

nonwhite groups.

Geographic Region

Even though the trend is toward diminishing

geographic variation in age-specific death rates,

differences still exist and are of interests Some

of the variation in age-specific death rates may

not reflect geographic differences in mortality

risks but rather geographic dissimilarities in the

accuracy of age information. If the latter were the

9
w

za

L

z

32

24

16

8

0

-8

–16

-24

-32

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1,111,11111,11White female .4

— Nonwhite mole

.;

/“” :,

. . . . . . . . . . . . Nonwhite female ‘i,

....” i

t,

...= t,

..... :.

L .:,&

I I I I I I I I

I -4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44 45–54 55-64 65–74 75-84 85-99

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

Figure 4. Net difference rates for 10-year age intervals between the death certificate and the matching

census record, by color and sex.

case, then themeasuresofageconsistency (thenet

difference rate and percent agreement) would be

expected to vary among the geographic regions.

Net difference rate .—For the white group,

net difference rates are very similar in both size

and direction among regions (fig. 5 andtable 2),

and some of the regional differences could beexpected on the basis of sampling error alone. The

overall impression is thatsincelackofagecorrespondence between records was not concentrated

in any one region then regional differences in

mortality of the white population at specific ages

are probably not a result of regional differences

in the accuracy of age information ontherecords.

If age-specific death rates had been calculated forthenonwhite group byregion, theaccuracy of the rates for the South for ages 4!5years

and over would probably be more in question than

those for the other three regions; net difference

rates, although sizable for each region for older

ages, were still larger for the South.

Percent agreement.-The amount of age

agreement between the census record and the

death certificate for the white decedents in this

study did not differ much from one geographic

region to another (tables C and 2). Differences

consisted mainly of slightly lower agreement for

the Northeast Region and slightly higher agreement for the North Central as compared with the

rest of the country, regardless of the age of the

decedent. On the other hand, agreement for the

nonwhite group varied dramatically among the

10
WHITE

12 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1

1

8

4

0

-4

-8

-12 I 1 I f I I I I I I I i I I I I I i I I I

5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60- 63- ;:- 75-

$91419242934 39444954596469

80- 85- 90- 95-

79 84 89 94 99

32

: 24

a

ill

o

z

UI 16

E

IL

u.

E

~8

z

o

-8

-16

-24

-32

AGE IN 5-YEAR INTERVALS

I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

— Northeast

mm=-’- North Central

‘ONwH’TE//fi,

1— south

,.,s.s”,8:0s West

I

4“ 1

8$

s

8

\

\

8

s:

b-, ,%

\

/;

I I I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I

!5- 10. [5- 20- 25- 30- 35- 40- 45- 50- 55- 60- 65- 70- 75- 80- 85- 90- 95-

9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 !69 74 79 64 89 94 99

AGE IN 5-YEAR INTERVALS

Figure 5. Net difference rates for 5-year age intervals between the death certificate and the matching

census record, by geographic region and color.

11
regions; it was higher for the West and somewhat

lower for the South than for the other regions.

It should be pointed out that regional differences found in age agreement may be related to

differences in population composition. j?or example, the lowest agreement found among white

decedents was for the Northeast Region, where

the proportion of foreign born decedents is higher

than for the rest of the country. Racial composition of the nonwhite group varied considerably

among regions; in this study 99 percent of the

nonwhite decedents

Negro as compared

Cause of Death

Cause of death

in the South Region were

with 52 percent in the West.

may affect the reporting of

information on the death certificate. Procedures

for completing the death certificate vary somewhat by State although the general practice is for

the funeral director to complete the personal information on the death certificate from information provided by a relative of the deceased. There

are, however, at least two kinds of circumstances

surrounding death which could lead to variations

in this procedure.

The first involves deaths which occur by

accident, violence, or which were for oqe reason

or another unattended by the individual’s physician. In such cases, a medicolegal officer or

coroner is usually required to certify the death.

Althopgh the certificate would then be sent to a

funeral director, the medicolegal officer may take

the responsibility for filling out the nonm,edical

part of the certificate. Under this general category are deaths fmrn motor vehicle accidents,

where the decedent may have carried some identification (such as a driver’s license) that provided a statement of age.

The second case includes deaths occurring

in the hospital. Hospital records containing personal information provided by the individual when

he entered the hospital (assuming that the individual was able tq provide such information when

he entered) may be used for filling out the death

certificate.

?hese cases can be only approximately

distinguished on the basis of what is coded as

cause of death. However, if age agreement, for

example, between the death certificate and tie

census record varied by cause, this would support

a hypothesis of different circumstances surroundTable C. Percent agreement for 5-year age intervals be~een the death certificate and

the matching census record, by geographic region, color, and age: United States, Mi?YAugust 1960

Region

Color and age

United

States North- North

ease Central South West

,

White I

Percent agreement

1-99 years -------.. ---.---- -------- ------

w+

1-44 years ---------------- -------------------- 90.7 88.8

45-64 years -------- -------- -------- -------- --- 89.4 87.8

65-99 years -------- -------- -------- -------- --- 87.2 84.1

Nonwhite I II

1-99 years ------- ------- ------- ---------

w%

1-44 years -------- -------- ---------------- ---- 80.7 81.9

45-64 years --------- -------------------------- 69.8 70.7

65-99 years -------- -------- -------- -------- --- 54.6 62.9

90.1

91.9

90.8

89.7

69.5

81.6

73.5

61.3

88.3

90.9

89.6

87.3

60.2

79.3

67.0

48,7

89.0

91.1

90.1

88.1

79.7

85.6

80.1

76.3

12
Table D. Percent agreement for 10-year age intervals between the death certificate and

the matchinz census record. by cause of death, age, color, aridsex: United States.

May~August 1960 - -

Age, color, and sex

1-99 years2-

White male-----------------*--------------

White female------------------------------

Nonwhite male------.-.--...--6------------

Nonwhite finale---------------------------

1-34 years

White male--------------------------------

White female------------------------------

Nonwhite male-----------------------------

Nonwhite female---------------------------

35-99 years2

White male--------------------------------

White female -------- -------- --------- ------

Nonwhite male -----------------------------

Nonwhite female -------- -------- -------- ---

-.

Cause of deathl

All Cardio- Mali.g- Acci- All

causes

vascular dents, other

diseases ‘ancles etc. causes

93.0

90.5

77.1

71.6

94.2

93.4

89.1

89.2

93.0

90.4

75.4

69.6

Percent agreement

93.0

90,1

74.0

67.7

83.0

84.1

74.4

78.8

93.1

90.2

74.0

67.4

93.1

91.2

77.1

74.7

92.8

90.8

88.0

82.4

93.1

91.3

76.6

74.2

93.9

92.1

86.2

86.1

96.1

95.7

92.2

95.0

92.6

90.6

79.2

77.2

92.8

90.5

79.2

75.9

94.7

95.6

88.8

91.4

92.6

90.0

77.3

71.6

lComDlete catezorv titles and numbers of the Seventh Revi.si,on of the International

Lists, i955, are ~s *O11OWS:

Major cardiovascular-renal diseases (330-334, 400-468, 592-594)

Malignant neoplasm (140-205)

Accidents, poisonings, and violence (E800-E999)

All other causes (residual)

21ncludes a total of 103 records with age reported as 100 years and over on the

death certificate.

ingthe death affecting theaccuracyofinformation

reported on the death certificate. The level of

age agreement didin fact vary by cause of death.

When deaths were divided into the fotw cause-ofdeath categories shown in tables D,3,and4, more

agreement was founclfor decedents whose deaths

were from accidents, poisonings, and violence

(InternationalList NumbersE800-E999) thanfrom

aii causes combined.

Because age ~f the decedent is so closely

related not only to cause ofdeath but also to the

degree of age agreement between records, especially for the nonwhite group, it should be taken

into account in this analysis. Since patterns of

both agreement and cause of death seemed to

differ primarily between ages under 35 and those

35 years andover ,only these two age groupware

considered here.

For decedents under age 35, the amountof

age reporting agreement varied considerably

among cause-of-death categories for each of the

four sex and color groups. ’Ihe amount of agreement was always substantially higher for accidents, poisonings, and violence and lower for

major cardiovascular-renal diseases (330-334,

400-468, 592-594) than for all causes.

The lowest age agreement was found for

deaths from major cardiovascular-renal diseases

which are rather unlikely occurrences at these

ages, suggesting that age cm the census record

13
for some of these decedents was probably much

younger than the true age. In fact, the major part

of the disagreement was a result of age on the

death certificate being from 10 to 30 years older

than that on the census record. These cases of

large discrepancies in age may reflect incorrectly

matched records or processing errors in the

coding and punching of age on the census record.

Perhaps even more noteworthy is the negligible difference in the amount of age agreement

between the white and the nonwhite individuals

who died from accidents, poisonings, and violence.

Several factors could play apart in explaining this

finding. Accidents, poisonings, and violence are

the most frequent cause of death at younger ages.

A large number of these deaths resulted from

motor vehicle accidents, and some evidence of

age would probably have been available for those

decedents. The bulk of deaths in this general

category were probably certified by a medicolegal

officer or a coroner. Any one or a combination

of these factors or ones in addition to these could

be involved, but their contribution cannot be

determined directly from these data.

Curiously, however, the results for ages 35

or over did not show the same strong relationship

between cause of death and degree of agreement

as that found for younger ages. For older ages,

there were only small differences in age agreement by cause. Since agreement for the white

group was at approximately the same level, regardless of age or cause with the exception of

major cardiovascular-renal diseases at the

younger ages, the small differences at older ages

are not remarkable. For the nonwhite group the

generally lower age agreement that existed for

older decedents was reflected to practically the

same extent in each cause category although

agreement was somewhat higher for accidents,

poisonings, and violence.

The effect of these differences in age correspondence among causes on the age-specific

death rates by cause will be examined in a later

section.

RESULTS OF RELATED STUDIES

There have been a number of other studies

comparing responses on vital and census records.

Procedures and target populations differ among

these studies so that results are not cpite comparable. However, they are of value as indicators

of the variation in the circumstances of these

studies that may account for the differences

among the results.

The study most analogous in scope and design

to the one discussed in this report was that done

by the General Register Office of the United

Kingdom to evaluate the results of the 1951 Census of England and Wales. 9 For this British

study, all death certificates filed during the week

of May 1-7, 1951, were selected and searched for

matching census records for April 8, 1951. Their

match rate was 87 percent—7 percent higher than

the rate for the present study.

In addition to higher match rates, sgreement

in single years of age for matched records was

also higher for the British study: 80 percent were

in complete agreement, with only 4 percent of

cases differing by more than 1 year; whereas 69

percent of the present study were in complete

agreement, with almost 14 perci%t differing by

more than 1 year (table E). The similarities in

results between the two studies are interesting.

Generally speaking, there was more agreement

in age among males than among females in both

countries. Agreement tended to decline with increasing age and, where there was disagreement.,

the age on the death certificate was more often

older than the age on the census record for the

same individual. For the British study this last

pattern was partly a result of the natural aging

process between date of the census and date of

death, which was not corrected as it was in the

present study. The conclusion of the British

studyg was that:

Since population estimates are based initially

on the census enumeration these discrepancies tend to distort death rates in the direction of exaggerating longevity, but. . . it is

clear that any exaggeration is of trivial magnitude for normal vital statistics purposek.

On the whole it is fair to say that age statements at death registration have a high order

of reliability.

This conclusion agrees with the findings for the

white group in the present study—that, although

differences in age between records existed, they

would probably not appreciably affect the actual

age-specific death rates.

14
However, if results for the white group were

compared with those for the group in the British

study, agreement would still be higher for the

British study ( table E).

Recently, data from an evaluation of the 1961

Census of England and Wales were made available .10 There were some procedural differences

between the earlier study and the later one, but

the two sets of results were very similar: for

1961, 79 percent of matched records were in

agreement in single years of age, and 4percent of

the records differed by more than 1 year of age.

Reproduction of almost identical results, separated in time by a decade, supports the reliability

of the figures in the 1951 British study and suggests that the differences found between their

results and those of the present study are probably real. This raises the question as to whether

either the death-registration system or the enumeration process or both in England and Wales

produce more accurate data than those in the

United States. Or, on the other hand, is the population in England and Wales different on the

average from that in the United States with respect to those characteristics which contribute to

lower age agreement between records?

Another study,’ ‘The Comparability of Reports

on Occupation From Vital Records and the 1950

Census II11 was done in the United StateS in 1950

,

to compare occupation information on vital and

census records. Part of the study involved comparing age information on the death certificate

Table E. Percent distribution of matched census records, by age agreement with death certificate

according to sex and age: 1951 British Study and 1960 United States Census-Death Certificate

Matched Record Study

Sex and death

certificate age

(relative to

census age)

Male-------

Same single year

of age----------

1 year younger---

1 year older-----

Younger or older

by more than 1

year------------

Female-----

Same single year

of age----------

1 year younger---

1 year older-----

Younger or older

by more than 1

year------------

1951 British Studyl 1960 U.S. Census-Death Certificate

Matched Record Study

65 Total

All o-14 15-34 35-64 y~n:s White,

ages years years years 1-99

over 1-99 1-14 15-34 35-64 65-99 years

years years years years years

Percent distribution

100.0

3.3

100.0

78.9

1?::

100.0 100.0 100.0

92.2 82.4 80.8

;.:

6.; . 1::$

0.9 3.3 3.5

100.0 100.0 100.0

98.8 83.3 76.7

1.2 1::: 1?::

1.0 6.1

100.01

81.6

1::;

3.3

100.0

78.9

1:::

4.5 I

100.0

7L.8

;:;

11.3

100.0

64.8

8.6

10.4

16.2

100.OI 100.0

83.3 75.6

5.1 ;.;

8.1 .

-4= 3.5 8.8

100.0 100.0

L

73.9 69.8

8.2

::: 9.5

10.0 12.5

100.0 100.0

100.0

74.5

H

8.9

100.0

82.9 72.9 66.3 63.3 67.9

8.5

2:: ;:: 9.9 18:; 1;::

4.7 3.6 10.5 15.3 17.3 13.3

lGt. Brit. General Register office,1951 Census of England and Wales, General Report, ~.~. Stationery Office, London, 1958.

15
with thaton the imatchingcensus record.For

thiscomparison,thesamplewas confinedtodeath

certificatesfor white males aged 45-64 years

who diedduringMay-August 1950.These death

certificates were selectedinsucha way astoinclude a certainnumber of each of the major

occupationcategories.Of thissample,79percent

were foundin the 1950 cefisuscompared witha

match rate of 81 percentfor the whitemale

decedentsaged45-64inthepresentstudy.

Age agreement betweenthetwo recordsfor

ages classifiedinto5-yeargroupswas consistentlylower for eachagegroupintheoccupation

study(tableF). The differencesbetweentheresultsof thetwo studiesareprobablydue todifferencesin proceduresratherthantoimprovements in informationon recordsfrom 1950 to

1960 although some difference may be attributed

to the use of self-enumeration in the 1960 census

and the use of year of birth in 1960 instead of age

as was used in 1950. One procedural difference

was that ages on the census record were not

corrected for the time that elapsed between

Table F. Percent agreement for 5-year

age interva1s between the death certifi.cate and the matching census record

for white male decedents aged 45-64

years: United States, 1950 Occupation

Study and 1960 Census-Death Certificate

Matched Record Study

I 1

1960

Death 1950 Census-Death

certificate Occupation Certificate

agel Studyz Matched

Record Study

I Percent agreement

45-49 years---- 88.1 92.7

50-54 years---- 87.5 91.5

55-59 years---- 84.3 91.2

60-64 years---- 85.8 90.1

lDeath certificate used as base for

percent agreement.

2National Office of Vital Statistics:

The comparability of reports on occupation from vital records and the 1950 cenSUS, by D.L. Kaplan, E. Parkhurst, and p.

K. Whelpton,Vital Stati.sti.cs-SpecialReorts, Vol. 53,N0. 1. Public Health Serv-

&ashington, 1).C., June 1961.

enumeration and date of death in the occupation

study. It was estimated that 4or 5 percent of the

decedents should be repro-ted in different 5-year

age groups. This correction wouldcertainlyraise

the levels of agreement to onesapproachingtiose

in the present study.

A second factor thatmighteqlain someofthel

differences between studies was the sampling

procedure used in the occupation study. Since the

sample for the occupation study was drawn to

represent the distributions of major occupation

groups in 1950, the sample in the present study

from 1960 deaths might be slightly different in

occupation distribution. To the extent that occupation is related to age agreement, differences

in the sample composition of occupations would

affect the ~esults.

A third study, “MatchedRecordComparison

of Birth Certificate and census Information,t!12

was done as part of the 1950 Birth Registration

Test in the United States. The relevant data concern age of mother as reported on the birth certificate and the matching infant card for infants

born during themonth of March 1950. The infant

cards were filled out by enumerators during the

1950 census for infants born during JanuaryMarch of that year, Both for single years of age

(fig. 6) and for ages grouped into 5-year intervals,

there was higher agreement in age for mothers

in the birth study than for all female decedents

aged 15-44 years in the present study (table

G). In hoth studies agreement was higher for the

white group than for the nonwhite, butaninteresting difference appeared in the relative positions

of the color groups when single years of age were

combined into 5-year intervals. That is, agreement in single years of age was almost always

higher for white female decedents than for nonwhite mothers. However, for 5-year age groups,

agreement was higher for nonwhite mothers than

for white female decedents up to age 35. The

apparent reason for this is that 22 percent of the

differences for nonwhite mothers were within 1

year of the same single year of age compared

with 16 percent for the white female decedents.

This relatively high agreement in the birth

study existed even though no corrections were

made fo’r a possible birthday between the date

the birth occurred and the date of the census. One

explanation for the higher age agreement in the

16
100

[

_ White mothers

,___==White female decedents

--= Nonwhite mothers

90 suvmtmansmu Nonwhite femole decedents 1

30 I_ J

o T,,,, T,,,, T,,,, I,,,, T,,,l Is 20 25 30 35 40 44

SINGLE YEARS OF AGE

Figure 6. Percent agreement in age between the

vital record and the matching census record for

mothers (1950 Birth Studvl and for female decedents ~1960 Census-Dea~~ Certificate Matched

Record Study) aged 15-W years, by color,

birti’study isthe greatlikelihoodthat therespondent was the same (i.e., the mother herself) for

both the infant card and the birth certificate.

Another reason could be that ifthemother’s age

were re”@rted far outside the range of childbearing ages, 15-44 years, it probably would

have been detected. On the other hand, the age

reported on the census record or the death certificate would not fall into any such narrow range

of possibilities.

Finally, there are other studies carried out

by the Bureau of the Census to evaluate census

results. The Post-Enumeration Survey (PES)5 in

1950 was an intensive reinterview program carried out for a sample of persons to evaluate the

coverage ofthe censuses and the accuracy of the

responses obtained. The agreement in response

for ages classified into 5-year groups between

the census and PES was quite high—94 percent

for the total group compared with89 percent for

the present study. In the CPS-Census4 match

study done in 1960 to evaluate the accuracyof the

data inthe 1960 census,slightly higherageagreement was found than for the PES—95 percent

agreement for the total group classified into 5-

year age groups by the census and the CPS. This

may reflect improved techniques in the CPSover

the PES or improvements in the 1960 census,

including the use of self-enumeration and year of

birth. The same sex, color, and age patternsof

age agreement observed in thepresent studywere

found in both of these studies, although the percent agreements were much higher in the census

studies. Agreement was higher for males than

females, higher for white individuals than for

nonwhite, and higher for younger ages than for

older ages among nonwhite individuals in all

three studies (table H). Inview of thebasic similarities in the collection and processing ofdata

for the census, PES, and CPS, and the likelihood

that the respondent was the same for both records

being compared, it is not surprising that age

agreement was higher for these studies than for

the present study. Moreover, the census studies

refer to samples of the living population while

the present study refers to a sample of deaths.

As an independent investigation of the 1950

census, several record check studies were done.

One of these involved a sample of census records

matched to birth certificates .13 Of those matched,

96 percent were in the same 5-year age group

according to the census record and the birth certificate. Unfortunately these results are based

largely on findings for younger individuals since

birth certificates were found for less than onethird of persons aged 45 years and over. In the

1951 British study discussed above, a similar

record check was done, and 99 percent of the

sample were in the same 5-year age group on

both the 1951 census and the birth certificate.

Birth certificates were found in the British study

for more than 85 percent of individuals 65 years

and over in the sample.

The following hypotheses are suggested by

the results of these diverse studies:

1. Age reported in the registration system

and the enumeration process in the United

States is somewhat less consistent than

17
Table G. Percent agreement for 5-year age intervals between the vital record and the

matching census record for mothers and for female deced@nts aged 15-44 years, by

color: United States. 1950 Birth Study and 1960 Census-Death Certificate Matched

Record Study

Agel

15-19 years -------------------------------

20-24 years -------------------------------

25-29 years -------------------------------

30-34 years -------------------------------

35-39 years -------------------------------

40-44 years -------------------------------

1950 Birth Study2

(mothers)

II

Total White ~~e

II I

93.3

95.i

95.3

94.7

92.9

92.8

1960 Census-Death

Certificate Matched

Record Study (female

decedents)

~—

Total White g;e

Percent agreement

;;.:

9s:9

95.4

93.7

93.7

93.0

92.1

90.1

88.6

87.3

85.6

92.2

88,8

87.5

84.2

86.3

83.7 I

92.4

90.6

89.3

87.1

89.5

86.9

II I I II

91.6

82.4

81.9

75.1

75.5

71.0

lAge in the Birth Study refers to age on the birth record which was used as base

for percent agreement; age on census record is base for 1960 Census-Death Certificate

Matched Record Study.

2National Vital Statistics Division: Matched record comparison of birth certificate

and census information: United States,1950, Vital Statistics—Special Reports,Vol. 47,

No. 12, Public Health Service, Washington, D.C., Mar. 1962.

2.

3.

similarinformationreportedinEngland

and Wales.

Age informationislessreliableforcertainportionsofthepopulationthanothers

no matterwhich recordisbeingconsidered.These are generallyfemales,nonwhite individuals,and personsof older

ages.

Age informationismore likelytobeconsistentfrom one recordtoanotherifthe

same individualistherespondentonthese

records.

EVALUATION OF ACCURACY OF

AGE-SPECIFIC DEATH RATE

The age-specificdeathrateas an estimate

of theprobabilityofdyingata givenagehashad

worldwidesignificanceasameasure ofthehealth

statusof theNationand as an identifierofsubgroupswithinthepopulationthatareathighrisk

ofdeath.Itsimportancecannotbeoverestimated,

andforthisreasonitsaccuracyisofconsiderable

interest.

For the purposesofthisreportaccuracyis

takento imply consistency:the agereporte don

one record is consistentwiththaton theother

recordfor the same individual.Specifically, the

questionposed is “Ifthefiguresforthenumeratorandthedenominatoroftheage-specificdeath

rate come from the same source (thecensus

record)how would such an age-specificdeath

rate (herewithcalledthe adjustedage-specific

deathrate)compare withthepublished(herewith

calledtheactualjfigures?”

To answerthisquestionfiguresfrom census

recordsfor alldecedentsina givenyearshould

be used.For the year inwhichthedataforthis

studywere collected,1960,considerablylessthan

all ~tlchrecordsare availableso thatonlyan

approximationtoan adjustedrateispossible.The

netdifferencerate,usedintheprevioussections

of thisreport,can providean estimateof the

percentagedifferencebetweentheactualand the

adjustedage-specificdeathrates.However,the

net differencerates used in thissectionare

basedon differentfiguresfrom thoseusedinthe

previoussections.They representthecompari18
Table H. percent agreement for 5-year age intervals between matching records: United

States, three census studies and 1960 Census-Death Certificate Matched Record Study

[Census record W. useda.baseforpercent agreetnentx 5-y3ar age intervals were wed throughage74 ages75 yearsandover

were treatedaeoneinterva~

,

1950 1950 1960 1960

census and

Color, sex,,

census and census and Census-Death

and age on census Birth Post- Current Certificate

record Certificate

Record Enumeration Population Matched

Su&ey2 Surveys Record

Checkl Study&

Total Percent agreement

All ages-------------------- 96.3 94.0 94.8 89.3

Under 45 years-------------------- 96.8 95.1 95.9 88.9

45 years and over----------------- 91.9 91.3 92.1 89.4

White

All ages-------------------- --- 94.7 95.4 91.4

Under 45 years-------------------- --- 95.7 96.5 90.7

45 years and over----------------- --- 92.4 92.8 91.5

Nonwhite

All ages-------------------- --- 88.3 89.8 69.4

Under 45 years--------------------

--- 90.8 91.5 80.7

45 years and over----------------- --- 79.3 84.7 66.6

Male

All ages-------------------- --- 94.3 94.9 90.3

Under 45 years-------------------- --- 95.5 95.7 89.5

45 years and over----------------- --- 91.3 92.9 90.4

Female

All ages-------------------- --- 93.8 94.7 88.0

Under 45 years-------------------- --- 94.7 96.1 87.8

45 years and over----------------- --- 91.4 91.5 88.0

lU.S. Bureau of the Census post-~numeration Survey, 1950, Results Memorandum No.

24, Age Statistics-’’Record Check” Studies, Jan. 1954. (unpublished)

2U.S. Bureau of the Census: The Post-EnumerationSurvey: 1950, Bureau of the Census, Technical Paper No. 4, Washington,D.C., 1960.

3U.S. Bureau of the Census: Evaluation and research program of the U.S. Censuses of

Population and Housing, 1960: accuracyof dataon population characteristics as measured

by CPS-Census Match, Series ER60, No. 5, Washington,

1964.

U.S. Government Printing Office,

4Refers to ages 1-99 years.

19
sons found between the age information reported

on the death certificate and that reported for the

same individual in the edited 25-percent sample

of the 1960 census (stage II) (table 5) as opposed

to the unedited 100-percent census enumeration

(stage I) used in the previous sections. There

are several advantages in using stage II data

rather than stage I for evaluating age-specific

death rates. The most important one is that stage

11 data were processed by FOSDIC (Film Optical

Sensing Device for Input to Computer), whereas

stage I data were manually coded for this study,

and errors resulting from the manual process

necessitated the exclusion of certain groups of

records. A more detailed discussion of the dif -

ferences between stage I and stage 11 and the

reasons for preferring one to the other for the

different sections of this report are contained in

the Technical Appendix.

This analysis is confined to death rates

rather than numbers of deaths to facilitate comparisons of results between the various subgroups. Estimations were made of adjusted numbers of deaths which are presented in table 8 but

which will not be discussed here. The death rates

considered are specific for sex, color, and 10-

year age intervals and for sex, color, cause of

death, and 10-year age intervals. The adjusted

rate was calculated in the following way:

Ad,jtis.cd = Actual ~ (1 + Net Dit’icmncc RRtC )

This method is one of several possible procedures for correcting age-specific death rates

from the data. Another method has been suggested

by Dr. Kitagawa which would yield slightly different results. See the Technical Appendix fcm

an outline of this method. The net difference rates

used to calculate adjusted rates are shown in

table 6.

Figure 7 and table 7 show that the adjusted

rates for white males and females at every age

are remarkably close to the actual rates. For

nonwhite males and females, the adjusted rate

is sometimes quite different from the actual. The

adjusted rates for the nonwhite group are lower

at ages 45-74 (except for females 65-74) and

higher at ages 75 and over than the actual. Both

of these changes and the small decrease in the

adjusted rate for the white group at ages 75 and

over contribute to slightly smaller differences

between white and nonwhite individuals in adjusted rates for ages 45 and over.

The most interesting finding relates to the

oldest ages 75 and over: actual rates for tHe white

population are higher than those for the nonwhite

at ages 75 and over, but at all other ages rates

are higher for the nonwhite population. This

reversal is diminished but not eliminated in the

adjusted rates. The adjusted rates for the nonwhite group are as high as those for the white

at ages 75-84 years. The “crossing of the curve”

occurs only at ages 85 and over, where although

the adjusted rates for the nonwhite population are

still lower than those for the white group, the gap

is smaller than was the case for the actual rates.

For the combihed age group 65 years and over,

the adju steal death rate is higher far the nonwhite group than for the white, reversing the color

differentials found in the actual death rates

(table 7). There is some reason to believe that the

net difference rates used to calculate these adjusted rates are a conservative ‘estimate of the

“true” difference in age statements since these

rates are based on records only for decedents

who were matched with the census. In any event,

the results lend support to the hypothesis that the

excess in mortality for the white population over

the nonwhite at ages 75 and over, in contrast with

the overall pattern of excesses for the nonwhite

population, is an artifact of the data rather than

a real phenomenon,

The adjusted rates for three major causeof-death categories (figs. 8-10) were similar to

the pattern for all causes. The adjusted rates for

the white group in each cause category showed

smaller changes from the actuai rates than those

for the nonwhite group in the same category. The

adjusted rates for the nonwhite group at ages 75

and over were higher than the actual, tending to

approach the rate for white individuals. (For

accidents, poisoning, and violehce little or nothing

can be said about the rates for nonwhite persons

85 years and over because the study group had

frequencies of less than 10 nonwhite individuals.)

The largest differences between the actual and

adjusted rates were found for major cardipvascular-renal diseases and the smallest for

accidents, poisonings, and violence ~corresponding to the findings in the earlier section of lower

and higher than average age agreement for these

two categories, respectively.

20
MALE

800

600

400

200

0

z

F

;

3

;

93

24,000

o“

g

5

a.

~ 20,000

5

K

z

1-

a

2

16,000

I2,000

how

4,000

0

I I 1 t I

I-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

I I I I I

—

■ -m-t

.-.

,,lll,s,111

J I I I I

4!$-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

80C

600

400

200

0

z

g

s

4

E

g

24,000

0-

g

I%n

L

20$000

$

a

x

!-

a

u

o 16,0CKI

I2,000

8,000

4,000

0

FEMALE

I I I I I

I 1 I I t

I-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

1 I I I

—

I

— White female, actual

.===. Whtte femole, adjusted

m-m Nonwhite femak, actual

,...IIIIIII Nonwhit@ female, adjusted

/

I

1

1

I

//

,*..

,.+

..$’

...’’”$8

A“e / *+*

#@’’’’”

45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTSRVALS

Figure 7, Actual and adjusted age-specific death rates for lo-year age intervals, by color anrl sex.

21
o

160

80

0

MALE

I I I I

j–

— White male, OCIUCI1

.--=. White male, adjusted

1

-- Nonwhite male, octual

,,,,,, s,,,,, Nonwhite mole. adlus ted $

14 5-14

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

1 I I I 1

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

240

160

80

0

i

3

:

n 16,000

0

0

0

0-

g

%

n

k 14,000

a

Ix

z

ta

w

n

10,000

6,000

FEMALE

— White female, actual,

--s-. While female, adjuslad d

-- Nonwhite female, actual E

,UID9EIIMNonwhite female,adjusted

/

AGE IN 10-y EAR INTERVALS

1 I I I I

--1

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

—

Figure 8. Actual and adjusted age-specific death rates for,Major Cardiovascular-Renal Diseases for 10-

Year age intervals, by color and sex.

22
100

80

60

40

z

20

0

~

i’

n.

0

n.

o 0

~

0-

g

a

w

n 2,000

w

$

a

z

~

u

0 1,600

1,200

800

400

0

#

~’

— White male, actual :-

.==-. White male, adjusted

.-= Nonwtite nmlo, octual

m.,,,,,,,, Nonwhi!e mala, adjusted

h

$1

#

y

:1

t t I I I I

I-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

I I I I I

I I I I I

I

45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

100

80

60

40

20

0

2,000

1,600

1,200

800

400

0

I

ii

_ White female, actuol :/

n=m=, White i’emale, adjusted

■ -w N3nwhite femole, actuol $/;

:/:,

LIZ. . . .. . . . Nonwhita famole,adjusted z 1

I I I I I I

I-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

I I I I I

I I I I 1

45-54 55-64. 65-74 75-84 85+

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

Figure 9. Actual and adjusted age-specific death ratesfor Malignant Neoplasms for 10-year age intervals,

by color and sex.

23
300

MALE

I I I I I

200

I00

0

700

z

0

1=

a

-1

i?

0

: 600

0

0

o“

o

-,

c

Id

n 500

u

$

z

z

1-

a

w

0 400

300

200,

I I I I I

I-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERvALS

I I [ I I

Oc,,s,,,,,,,, Nonwhite male, adjusted

45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 65+

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

FEMALE

300 I I I I I

200

100

0

700

z

o

1=

a

J

3

a.

2

600

~

0“

0

g

cc

u

; 500

$

K

F

a

w

0 400

300

200

_ White female, octuol

.-==- White female, odjustad

■ -m Nonwhl!a femole, octual

IIIIIIIIBII Nonwhite female, adjusted

I-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

I I I I 1

~

i

:

:

:

:

:

1

I

i’/

,,..**

01 I I t I I

45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

AGE IN IO-YEAR INTERVALS

Figure 10, Actual and adjusted age-specific death rates for Accidents, Poisonings, and Violence, by

color and sex.

24
Adjusted rates are not intended to be closer

representations of reality than the published rates

but rather to reflect the change in rates brought

about by removing some of the age statement

differences between the census record and the

death certificate. Also these adjustments do not

allow for estimates of undercoverage in the ten.

sus record. The analysis is limited to only those

age-specific death rates published for the year

1960, and no attempt is made to generalize these

results to other years. It is further restricted in

generality because of the number of limitations

inherent in the data which are discussed in the

Technical Appendix. These limitations include

the fact that the adjusted rates are based on data

that refer only to deaths sampled during MayAugust and matched with the 25-percent sample

(stage II) census records. Moreover, this evaluation is specific for the characteristics considered

here: sex, color, age, and cause of death. Insofar

as the value of the net difference rates between

ages on the census record and those on the death

certificate is related to other characteristics,

age-specific death rates by such characteristics

should be evaluated on the basis of net difference

rates for each characteristic. For example, an

age-specific death rate for white males by marital

status should be evaluated from net difference

rates calculated for white males by age and

marital status. In spite of the specificity of this

evaluation, some indication of the general quality

of the actual age-specific death rates for various

prtions of the population in 1960 is provided.

DISCUSSION

The results of this report confirm the frequently stated argument that there are inconsistencies in the age information between the census

record and the death certificate. Moreover, it

has been shown that these inconsistencies can

affect the level of the age-specific death rates.

The question arises at this point as to what can

be expected in the future in terms of improved

age information. It is difficult to identify the

factor or factors responsible for differences in

age statements. Measures of age correspondence

between records reflect the combined effect of

the various differences between records, including

the questions designed to elicit age response, the

respondent providing the information, the care

taken by the person completing the forms, and the

processing of the responses.

Because of these differing circumstances, a

certain amount of difference in age information

between the records might be expected. However,

since an average of 93 percent of the white male

decedents were classified in the same 10-year

age interval on both records, it is clear in view

of the results for white males in this study that

at least this level of agreement should be possible

for all subgroups of the study population. That

subgroups vary radically from this average for

white males is evidence that more is involved

than differences in procedures between records.

While the entire amount of disagreement

between records cannot be attributed to any one

factor, the disagreements in excess of what was

found for white males can prbbably be ascribed to

differences in characteristics of the subgroups.

Then the question becomes what reasons can account for those portions of the population providing unreliable information and what possibilities

exist for future improvements.

It seems reasonable to suppose that consistent age reporting on records implies the existence

of two prerequisites on the part of the respondent:

(1) That he knows either his age or the age of the

individual for whom he is responding, and (2)

that he is willing to provide this information accurately. The existence of these prerequisites is

related to the individual’s social and economic

environment. The low age agreement in the older

nonwhite group probably reflects the fact that

they do not have birth certificates and do not

know their age. For the majority of white males

the environment is largely urban and industrial

where records of age-including birth certificates, social security enrollment forms, and

insurance policies- are widely used. To the extent

that the trend has been for nonwhite individuals

to move from rural farm areas to urban industrial ones, differences in age information as a

result of differences in the environment should

diminish. The relatively greater age consistency

for younger than older nonwhite decedents, which

approached the levels found for the white group,

may be taken as evidence of this movement. At

any given moment in time, individuals within the

two color groups may be quite similar with respect to age agreement. For example, if age

comparability had been analyzed by socioeconomic

25
status, age agreement might have been the same

for white and nonwhite individuals within each

status group. In any event, as more and more

use is made of records and as record keeping

becomes increasingly accurate, knowledge of

one’s age should increase.

Although sex differences were not as great

as color differences, the lower agreement for

females than males deserves some attention. The

emphasis here, particularly for white females,

should probably be on willingness to report their

accurate age rather than on knowledge of it.

Where disagreement existed between records, it

was often a result of the age on the death certificate being reported as older than that on the

cetmus record for white females. If it is assumed

that women are quite likely to respond for themselves on the census record, then the finding

would support the conten~ion that women tend to

give a younger age. There is some hope for

irhprovements in this area with the more widespread use of self-enumeration in the census. On

tile other hand, some of the age inconsistency for

females might arise from a difference in respondents on the two records. That is, information for

males might be more likely to come from the wife

or other household member on both the census

record and the death certificate, whereas information for females might be more likely to come

from themselves on the census record and hence

from a different respondent on the death certificate.

Much could be gained from further research

into this subject of comparison of age statements

in an effort to isolate the causes of disagreement

and thus to provide a basis for making improvements. There are many characteristics of individuals that need to be studied which, separately

or in combination, might affect age agreement —

e.g., education, urban-rural residence, marital

status, nativity, and the relationship of the deceased to the informant on the death certificate.

In addition to such studies, one involving a threeway comparison

death certificate,

birth certificate

portance.

of age on the census record,

and social security form or the

would be of considerable imSUMMARY

The outstanding finding in this evaluation of

age response comparability on the death certifi26

cate and the census record for the same individual is that age agreement is generally qu[ite high

for the white group and relatively low for the

nonwhite.

Agreement levels appeared to be closely

related to age for nonwhite decedents: age agreement although somewhat lower for nonwhite individuals than for white under age 45 was substantially lower at ages 45 and over., Large

discrepancies for nonwhite individuals between

the ages reported on the death certificate and

those on the census record have their impact on

adjusted age-specific death rates based on age

of decedent as reported on the census record.

The adjusted rates differed from the actual rates

for ages 45 and over, casting some doubt on the

accuracy of the actual rate as a measure of nonwhite mortality risks at these ages.

Other characteristics of the decedent examined for their bearing on the problem were

related to the amount of age agreement but to a

lesser degree than color and age. Sex differences

were small although there was usually less age

agreement for females than for males. Geographic

region of residence and the factors which vary

concomitantly with geographic area—race and

nativity— seemed to be related to amount of age

agreement. White decedents of the Northeast

Region and nonwhite decedents of the South.Region

had lower agreement than did decedents of other

regions. Cause of death appeared to affect age

agreement: higher than average agreement was

found for decedents whose deaths were from accidents, poisonings, and violence while lower than

average agreement was found for decedents whose

deaths were from the major cardiovascular-renal

diseases. The extent of these differences is indicated approximately in the comparison between

actual and adjusted rates. Actual rates were dif -

ferent from adjusted rates to a slightly larger

degree for females than males. For accidents,

poisonings, and violence the actual rates did not

noticeably differ from the adjusted rates although

they did for major cardiovascular-renal diseases.

The results from related studies indicated

similar patterns of age, sex, and color differences

in age agreement between two sources although

the size of the differences varied from study to

study.
REFERENCES

lNational Center for Health Statistics: The change in

mortality trend in the United States. Vital and Health Statistics. PHS Pub. No. 1000-Series 3-No. 1. Public Health

-e. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, Mar.

1964. p. 37.

2-Marksj E. S., and Waksberg, J.: Evaluation of Coverage

in the 1960 Census of Population. Through, Case-By-Case

Checking. Paper prepared for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Statistical Association, Los Angeles,

Calif., Aug. 15-18, 1966.

3Siegel, J. S., and Zelnik, M.: Evaluation of Coverage

in the 1960 Census of Population by Techniques of Demographic Analyeis and by Composite Methods. From the 1966

Proceedings of the Social Statistic Section of the American

Statistical Association.

4U.S. Bureau of the Census: Evaluation and Research

Program of the U.S. Censuses of Population and Housing,

1960, Accuracy of Data on Population Characteristic cs as

Measured by CPS-Census Match. Series ER60, No. 5. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964.

5U.S. Bureau of the Census: Tbe Post-Enumeration Survey, 1950. Bureau of the Census, Technical Paper No. 4.

Washington, D.C., 1960.

6

Taeuber, C., and Hansen, M. H.: A Preliminary Evaluation of the 1960 Censuses of Population and Housing. Paper

for presentation and discussion at the meeting of the American

Statistical Association, Sept. 5, 1963, Cleveland, Ohio.

7Bogue, D. J., Misra, B. D., and Dandekar, D. P.: A new

estimate of the Negro population and Negro vital rates in the

United States, 1930-60. Demography 1(1):339-358, 1964.

‘Metropolitan Life Insurance Company: Geographic dif9Gt. Brit. General Register Office: 1951 Census of En&-

land and Wales, General Report. London, H. M. Stationery

office, 1958. pp. 35-43.

10Gt. Brit. General Register Office: 1961 Census of England and Wales. To be published

1lNational Office of Vital Statistic: Tlie comparability

of reports on occupation from vital records and the 1950 census, by D. L. Kaplan, E. Parkhurst, and P. K. Whelpton.

Vital Statistics-Special Reportsi Vol. 53, No. L Public

Health Service. Washington, D.C., June 1961.

12National Vital Statistics Division: Matched record comparison of birth certificate and census information, United

States, 1950. Vital Statistics-Special Reports, Vol. 47, No.

12. Public Health Service. Washington, D.C., Mar. 1962.

13u.s. Bureau of the &neus: Post-Enumeration Survey,

1950, Results Memorandum No. 24, Age Statistics-’’Record

Check” Studies, Jan. 1954. Unpublished manuscript.

14Kitagawa, E. M., and Hauser, P. M.: Methods used in a

current study of social and economic differentials in mortality.

Emerging Techniques in Population Research, Proceedings

of the 1962 Annual Conference of the Milbanl Memorial Fund.

15Kitagawa, E. M., and Hauser, P. M.: Education and Income Differentials in Mortality, United Statee, 1960. Paper

presented at tbe annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New York, Apr. 29-30, 1966. Revised, Mar.

1967.

16Kitagawa, E. M., and Hauser, P. M.: Education differentials in mortality, by cause of death, United States, 1960.

Demography, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1968.

ferences in longevity diminishing. Statis.Bull.Metrop. Life

Insur.Co., Vol. 46. New York. July 1965. pp. 1-4.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfar- Whitermnwhite differentials in the United States. Health, Educationl

and Welfare Indicators. Washington, D.C., June 1965.

hiyers, R. J.: Accuracy of age reporting in the 1950 United

States Census. J. Am.Statist.A. 49:826-831, Dec. 1954.

National Center for Health Statistics: Annual summary for the

United States, 1965. Monthly Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 14,

No. 13. Public Health Service. Washington, D.C., July 1966.

Sauer, H. I.: Adequacy of Age Data for Age-Specific Death

Rate, Reliability and Validity of Age as Eutered on Death

Certificates, Charleston County, South Carolina, 1961-63.

Paper presented atannual meeting of the Population Association of America, New York, Apr. 29-30, 1966.

000

27
DETAiL~b TABLES

Table 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Cross classification of S-year age intervals as stated on the death certificate

and on the matching 100-percent enurherationcensus record (stage 1), by color

and sex: United States, Maj?-AugtiSt1960-----------------------------------------

,,

Net difference rates and percenc agreement for 5-year age intervais between the

death certificate and the hatching 100-percent enumeration C+SUS record (stage

I), by geographic region, color, add age: United States, May-August 1960--------

Number of matching 100-bercent enumeration census records (stage I) for lo-year

~ e intervals, by cause of death, color, sex, and age: Unitkd States, ~y-Au@st

1~6O-------------------------------------------------------"---------------------

Net difference rates and percent agreement for 10-year age intervals between the

death certificate and the matching 100-percent enumeration census record (stage

I), by cause of death, color, sex, and age: United States, May-August 1960------

Cross classification of 5-year age intervals aa stated on the death certificate

and on the matching 25-percent sample census record (stage II),by color and sex:

United States, May-August 1960--------------------------------------------------

Number of matching 25:percent sample census records (stage II) and net difference rates for 10-year age intervals, by cause of death, color, sex, and age:

United States, Msy-Atigust 1960--------------------------------------------------

Actual and adjusted age-specific death rates for 10-year age intervals,by specified causes of death, color, sex, and age: United States, 1960------------------

Estimated corrected number of deaths for 5-year age intervals,by color, sex, and

age: United States, 1960--------------------------------------------------------

rage

30

34

35

36

38

42

43

44

29
Table 1. Cross classification of 5-year age intervals as stated on the death certificate and on the matching 100-

percent enumeration census record (Stage I), by color and sex: United Statesj May-August 1960

=

1

2

3

4

5

6

i’

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

2s

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

Age on death certificate

Color, sex, and age on census

record rotal,

1-99

years

1-4

years

5-9

years

10-14

years

15-19

years

20-24

years

25-29

years

30-34

years

35-39

years

40-44

years

White male

Total, 1-99 years------------- L99,642 1,697

Qg

33

4

3

3

4

.

1

8

1,274

&v&

17

4

1

1

1

1

5

1,243

36

~

10

3

2

4

3

1

1

1

2

1

-

.

-

4

768

1,255

1

22

=7

28

2

1

1

6

8

1

1

1

1

4

1

.

.

4

634

2

10

~

13

.

1

1

2

1

-

2

1,951

1

41

1,837

28

4

2

3

11

13

4

4

1

1

1

s

730

_

1

2

18

690

z

2

5

.

5

1,540 1,482 2,082 3,177 5,261

1-4 years--------------------------

5-9 years--------------------------

10-14 years------------------------

15-19 years------------------------

20-24 years------------------------

25-29 years------------------------

30-34 years------------------------

35-39 years------------------------

40-44 years------------------------

45-49 years------------------------

50-54 years------------------------

55-59 years-------------------------

60-64 years------------------------

65-69 years------------------------

70-74 years------------------------

75-79 years------------------------

80-84 years------------------------

85-89 years------------------------

90-94 years------------------------

95-99 years------------------------

1,708

1,243

1,251

1,938

1,546

1,536

2,178

3,280

5,516

8,733

12,626

16,503

21,688

27,097

29,843

26,917

19,817

U,487

3,946

789

2,091

.49.902

1

1

~

40

LJtlfj

46

3

‘2

4

7

5

4

1

6

.

10

649

_

1

1

17

595

--E

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

6

1

4

51

1,365

70

s

4

3

2

1

1

1

1

.

16

767

1

1

15

715

--z

8

1

1

2

7

1

2

4

4

4

13

108

4,868 -—

182

37

8

6

9

10

1

3

1

51

3,220

-—-—

1

2

5

2

2

14

99

.*

122

21

7

4

2

3

1

24

1

1

14

45

Q3J

63

10

3

4

3

1

4

2

.

.

19

1,265

-

1

2

8

33

Q6J

45

3

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

-

11

2

5

10

84

=7

65

9

3

8

6

4

2

1

1

43

2,160

-

1

5

10

79

Q&

49

12

2

5

1

1

1

1

1

19

Not stated or not valid ------------

White female

Total, 1-99 years-------------

1-4 years--------------------------

5-9 years--------------------------

1,285

773

651

747

657

801

1,336

2,226

3,376

4,786

6,411

S,393

12,150

16,617

22,199

23,238

21,372

14,699

6,516

1,669

1,842

27

726

7

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

10-+4

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

80-84

85-89

90-94

95-99

years------------------------

years------------------------

years-------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years-------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years-------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

years------------------------

Not stated or not valid------------

30
Table 1. Cross classification of 5-year a e intervals as stated on the death certificate and on the matching 100-

percent enumeration census record ?stage 1), by color and sex: United States, May-August 1960-Con.

.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

!4

31

Age on death certificate

Not

stated,

45-49

years

55-59

years

60-64

years

65-69

years

27,109

70-74

years

29,650

6

2

2

18

12

24

22

26

44

426

955

26,338

1>454

244

55

22

292

21,074

75-79

years

80-84

years

85-89

years

90-94

years

95-99

years

50-54

years

not -

valid,

m 100+

years

26,871

-

10

10

5

20

30

46

91

370

1,356

23,868

838

192

20

15

225

23,118

20,431

1

5

5

25

35

25

20

150

50

546

935

17,818

735

76

5

206

22,585

11,661

5

5

u

6

15

20

35

75

151

21.7

703

10,195

198

25

112

14,987

5

5

25

20

25

105

208

425

1,015

12,731

373

50

105

4,144

5

5

5

20

10

25

30

136

265

*

85

60

6,886

5

5

30

30

150

35

151

496

&81_9

165

115

728

5

5

10

56

652

5

1,648

5

10

10

30

20

36

145

1,392

10

37

1

2

10

2

1

1

3

1

1

15

5

50

6

1

1

1

1

5

10

5

10

10

5

8,560 12,551 16,602

3

3

2

1

3

18

14

15

20

118

586

15,142

488

145

26

8

4

4

1

1

206

8,378

21,647

-

1

1

1

2

9

15

11

24

26

129

557

19,512

955

333

30

27

6

6

2

264

12,046

4

2

4

6

16

20

26

26

51

131

865

24,490

1,041

360

33

22

8

4

312

16,657

5

1

6

7

7

30

263

*

223

62

7

3

2

4

2

98

4,731

.

2

1

4

8

9

17

13

147

317

11,479

446

73

18

6

6

4

1

148

6,325

1

2

1

1

6

2

7

10

71

223

~

293

55

13

4

4

4

1

93

3

2

3

2

4

8

12

17

87

393

7JMJ

338

137

16

7

3

1

124

1

1

1

3

1

2

6

17

22

102

419

10,358

799

246

36

22

5

4

1

136

6

2

2

2

4

4

6

15

24

18

159

813

14,155

1,006

351

50

20

6

14

206

4

2

6

3

16

16

26

42

351

893

17,973

1,315

317

85

23

2

262

5

5

20

15

25

20

90

370

1,741

19,495

1,002

295

25

10

320

5

5

5

5

15

5

20

15

80

96

840

1,533

18,783

1,023

120

35

257

5

1

3

3

10

21

215

~

148

59

3

4

1

4

2

1

52
Table 1. Cross classification of 5-year age intervals as stated on the death certificate and en the matching 100-

percent enumeration census record (stage I), by color and sex: United States, May-August 1960-Con.

.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

Color, sex,r~:r:ge on census

Nonwhite male

Total, 1-99 years-------------

1-4 years--------------------------

5-9 years--------------------------

10-14 years------------------------

15-19 years------------------------

20-24 years------------------------

25-29 years------------------------

30-34 years------------------------

35-39 years------------------------

40-44 years------------------------

45-49 years------------------------

50-54 years------------------------

55-59 years ------------------------

60-64 yeare------------------------

65-69 years------------------------

70-74 years------------------------

75-79 years------------------------

80-84 years------------------------

85-89.years------------------------

90-94 years------------------------

95-99 yeare------------------------

Not stated or not valid------------

Nonwhite female

Total, 1-99 years-------------

1-4 years---------......-----------

5-9 yeara.........---------~-.--m--

10-14 years------------------------

15-19 years------------------------

20-24 years------------------------

25-29 years------------------------

30-34 years------------------------

35-39 years------------------------

40-44 years ------------------------

45-49 years------------------------

50-54 years------------------------

55-59 years------------------------

60-64 years------------------------

65-69 years------------------------

70-74 years------------------------

75-79 years------------------------

80-84 years-----------------------

85-89 years------------------------

90-94 years------------------------

95-99 years------------------------

Not stated or not valid------------

Total,

1-99

years

20,142

476

233

280

343

315

384

464

695

897

1,220

1,578

1,878

2,155

2,525

2,389

1,999

1,150

790

266

105

391

16,752

356

170

134

154

182

260

434

657

856

1,044

1,174

1,454

1,610

2,035

2,043

1,700

1,182

803

364

140

349

1-4

years

470

450

-7

4

1

1

2

.

1

2

1

1

.

.

-

-

.

-

.

-

3

350

343

:

1

.

-

-

.

-

.

.

.

.

3

5-9

years

244

20

214

7

1

.

1

1

1

1

.

.

1

176

9

159

7

1

.

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

Age on death certificate

10-14

years

271

1

5

252

-io

1

-

.

-

.

2

.

-

-

-

1

121

2

JIJ

2

.

.

.

-

.

.

-

.

15-19

years

343

1

9

312

T4

3

-

.

2

2

.

.

-

2

146

.

3

141

7

-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

1

.

.

20-24

years

296

.

1

8

J&i

21

1

2

3

1

2

1

-

-

3

174

.

.

2

6

~

12

3

1

.

.

.

.

-

.

1

25-29

years

378

3

2

1

22

306

--z

6

2

1

2

1

.

1

-

2

264

1

1

.

13

~

29

4

2

.

-

1

.

.

6

30-34

years

443

.

3

24

~

56

6

1

4

1

-

1

.

-

13

413

.

.

1

1

4

17

&

46

11

2

2

2

-

.

-

.

1

7

35-39

years

662

1

1

1

4

51

532

%

12

5

5

4

1

-

-

25

643

1

.

-

3

10

51

~

59

15

3

4

1

.

-

-

.

-

.

13

$.0-44

years

900

-

1

2

4

4

12

54

~

124

19

6

7

2

2

.

20

854

.—.—

.

.

-

-

2

1

10

63

J5&s

112

29

17

4

2

3

1

1

1

13

32
‘L’able1. Cross classification of 5-year age intervals as stated on the death certificate and on the matching 100-

percent enumeration census record (stage I), by color and sex: United States, May-August 1960--COII.

=

45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64

years years years years

1,251 1,721 2,125 2,456

1 2 1 1

1 .

1 .

- 2 1 2

1 6 2 1

5 5 2 3

5 6 3 1

15 7 9 1

99 32 15 9

923 89 37 10

G &M& 150 34

39 256 lJ& 124

13 68 281 lJ!JJ+

8 34 126 410

1 12 66 198

3 37 104

1 4 10 42

- 1 8 17

. 2 - 2

1 3

30 39 56 52

1.097 1.417 1.703

.

1

1

2

1

5

16

94

751

=

58

18

13

1

1

.

25

—,.—.

-

1

1

2

2

1

2

5

38

92

&

262

84

48

27

12

3

2

.

1

40

., .-—

2

1

.

.

2

2

10

17

33

116

916

z

181

61

38

20

5

2

2

36

2.085 —,---

.

5

2

1

6

12

19

32

123

&J

446

267

108

57

26

5

5

42

Age on death certificate

1 1 *

65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84

years years yearn years

85-89

years

2,727 2,291 1,662 1,012

-

2 .

3 1

‘- 1 . 1

2 1

3 - 1 -

. 1 1 3

5 1 2 2

7 6 2 2

8 3 6 1

17 10 2

45 14 7 2

187 60 16 18

~ 156 48 10

386 * 203 72

224 364 * 117

66 147 166 635

39 73 78 z

14 27 24 15

5 5 5 10 9

34 37 29 19 15

_, 2-053 --- 1.8&3 1.&25 962 631

1

.

1

.

1

3

6

5

9

39

143

~

404

228

93

43

12

8

44

1

1

3

2

3

8

3

18

55

190

998

Fx158

83

17

2

31

1

2

4

6

5

7

22

66

169

~

159

103

33

13

39

-

.

.

1

2

.

4

7

10

19

74

120

~

101

31

16

27

592

-

-

.

1

2

2

4

7

25

40

65

400

-G

1

1

-

4

8

30

40

93

JE!l

53

11

11

90-94

years

215

95-99

years

83

Not

stated,

not

valid

or 10&l

years

45

- 1

-

1

1-

- 1

2--

2

,3

1

1- 1

4- 3

5 2 7

3 4 4

11 3 10

40 10 4

130 15 3

Y * 4

7 3 2

286 109 M

.

.

.

1

2

4

8

12

12

44

~

21

8

1

1

3

9

4

29

JifL

2

3

-

2

.

1

1

5

2

7

4

6

5

12

1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

L8

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

18

39

iO

il

}2

}3

}4

—

33
Table 2. Net difference rates and percent agreement for 5-year age intervalsbetween the death

certificateand the matching 100-percentenumerationcensus record (stageI), by geographicregion, color, and age: United States,May-August 1960

Color and age

II Region II Region

Jnited

States

~

United

States

F=F=F+=

White Percent agreement

Total,

1-99 yearsNet differencerate

88.1 85.4 90.1 88.3

96.9

94.2

92.3

93.4

91.5

89.6

88.1

91.6

88.0

90.3

89.7

90.4

88.5

88.4

85.4

86.3

89.4

87.6

89.7

79.8

60.2

89.0

97.2

94.8

93.9

94.3

91.4

91.2

88.5

90.3

87.8

91.0

89.7

92.0

88.5

89.6

86.5

87.7

89.1

87.6

88.9

88.3

79.7

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-0.7

-0.6

-0.;

-2.6

-0.2

-6.0

-3.1

-3.4

-2.;

-;::

-0.6

-1.9

-0.4

4.8

3.5

-;:;

...

1-4 years---------

5-9 years---------

10-14 years-------

15-19 years-------

20-24 years-------

25-29 years-------

30-34 years-------

35-39 years-------

40-44 years-------

-0.7

-0.2

-0.7

-0.1

-0.6

-3.8

-4.8

-3.1

-4.6

-1.7

-0.8

-;::

-H

-0.3

4.4

1.8

-::2

...

1.2

-3.1

-0.;

-0.6

-6.9

-5.7

-5.7

-5.9

-3.0

-0.5

-0.2

0.3

-;:;

-0.2

5.1

-1.6

::;

...

-2.2

-;::

-0.1

-0.6

-3.8

-4.1

-2.9

-4.2

-1.9

-0.3

-M

-0.2

-2.9

-0.1

3.4

;::

-6.8

...

-0.5

-0.2

-1.9

0.3

-%;

-3.8

-0.6

-4.4

-1.0

-1.1

-W

-1.2

-2.2

-0.8

4.8

:::

-9.9

...

96.8

94.5

93.6

94.1

91.3

89.0

88.1

90.2

87.8

90.2

89.9

90.3

88.3

88.4

85.1

86.5

88.9

87.6

89.6

83.2

64.8

97.5

91.6

93.6

93.6

89.2

85.9

85.4

87.9

86.3

88.4

88.7

:3.:

86:1

82.3

82.8

85.6

83.0

87.9

79.6

70.0

96.1

96.7

94.8

95.1

92.6

89.7

89.9

91.2

89.0

91.4

91.2

91.5

89.8

90.3

87.2

89.4

91.2

91.3

91.5

85.3

69.5

45-49 years-------

50-54 years-------

55-59 years-------

60-64 years-------

65-69 years-------

70-74 years-------

75-79 years-------

80-84 years-------

85-89 years-------

90-94 years-------

95-99 years-------

Nonwhite

Total,

1-99 years1-4 years---------

5-9 years---------

10-14 years-------

15-19 years-------

20-24 years-------

25-29 years-------

30-34 years-------

35-39 years-------

40-44 years-------

-1.4

-;::

-1.6

-5.4

-0.3

-4.7

-3.5

0.1

l::i

14.9

20.6

-::;

-16.5

-15.4

-23.2

-20.5

-21.6

0.8

-H

-$:2

-k:

-6.8

1.4

-12.2

10.0

-6.;

-0.4

-6.5

1::’i

10.3

16.3

-;::

-10.0

-9.5

-12.4

-16.0

-26.8

-3.1

-:::

-1.4

-7.9

-1.;

-3.3

2.5

12:?

20.6

28.1

-::;

-22.3

-21.9

-29.7

-25.0

-21.5

-1.1

-9.:

-8.6

-7.3

-9.4

-4.1

-2.5

-0.6

:::

4.7

-2.;

-H

.2::;

95.3

92.6

89.1

91.1

81.7

;;.:

76:0

72.5

73.9

73.6

68.8

65.5

60.9

54.5

52.3

52.0

49.6

49.5

44.1

96.2

95.1

87.5

93.0

85.1

84.4

73.3

80.0

74.3

;:.;

70:4

67.4

67.3

61.1

61.3

56.6

64.1

67.9

72.2

95.9

93.2

87.8

90.5

88.3

82.6

79.3

78.3

72.6

77.1

77.0

72.3

69.9

64.6

60.2

60.0

63.7

59.8

47.9

51.2

94.8

92.4

88.7

;:.:

77:9

73.4

72.9

70.7

72.4

71.4

65.6

61.7

56.9

49.2

45.8

44.0

40.8

45.5

39.5

95.7

88.9

97.1

88.6

87.9

85.5

78.1

82.0

80.4

79.5

81.5

79.2

80.4

76.4

74.4

77.5

80.3

75.2

75.0

42.9

0.7

45-49 years-------

50-54 years-------

55-59 years-------

60-64 years-------

65-69 years-------

70-74 years-------

75-79 years-------

80-84 years-------

85-89 ye~r~-------

90-94 years-------

95-99 years-------

3:4

-9.2

-4.8

-4.4

-15.9

-10.7

-5.6

34
Table 3. Number of retching 100-percentenumerationcensus records (stageI) for 10-yearage intervals,by

cause of death, color, sex, and age: United Statea,May-August 1960

Color, sex, and agel

Cause of death2

-

Accidents,

etc.

All

other

causes

Cardiovascular

diseases

All

causes

199,667

malignancies

White male

Total, 1-99 years--------------------------------------- 118,044 34,147 17,084 30,392

1,70E

2,494

3,484

3,714

8,796

21,35$

38,201

56,94C

46,73~

16,23;

149*9G

1?:

210

677

3,675

11,403

22,045

35,556

32,096

12,219

90,164

247

361

285

474

1,369

3,998

8,195

10,858

63823

1,537

30,030

661

1,425

2,528

1,912

2,162

2,426

2,216

1,925

1,382

44i

7,36:

747

598

461

651

1,590

3,532

53745

8,601

6,433

2,034

22,385

634

542

439

698

1,444

2,176

3,281

5,483

5,108

2,580

4,254

271

132

101

209

380

638

850

896

556

221

3,565

207

118

155

303

489

473

533

642

432

213

1-4 years-----------------------------------------------------

5-14 yesrs----------------------------------------------------

i5-24 yeara---------------------------------------------------

25-34 years------------------------------------------"--------

35-44 years---------------------------------------------------

45-54 years---------------------------------------------------

55-64 years---------------------------------------------------

65-74 years---------------------------------------------------

75-84 years---------------------------------------------------

85-99 yeara---------------------------------------------------

White female

Total, 1-99 years---------------------------------------

1,29(

1,424

1.,40~

2,13;

5,601

11,19;

20,54:

38,821

44,61!

22,90!

20,15;

41

88

178

408

1,362

3,726

g,959

24,098 3~,424

li,880

10,289

178

267

178

489

2,045

4,478

6,453

8,279

5,963

1,700

3,031

31

30

28

1$:

460

801

856

486

105

2,734

437

527

609

542

751

817

850

961

1,120

749

2,583

153

319

477

:;:

339

231

135

;:

872

1-4 years-----------------------------------------------------

5-14 years----------------------------------z-----------------

15-24 years---------------------------------------------------

25-34 yeara---------------------------------------------------

35-44 years---------------------------------------------------

45-54 years---------------------------------------------------

55-64 years---------------------------------------------------

65-74 years---------------------------------------------------

75-84 years---------------------------------------------------

85-99 years---------------------------------------------------

Nonwhitem&le

Total, 1-99 yeara---------------------------------------

477

513

658

848

1,592

2,798

4,033

4,915

3,154

1,169

22

32

1%

626

:1,361

2,151

3,028

2,040

817

19.604

1-4 years----------------------------------------------------

5-14 vears----------------------------------------------------

i5~24”

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65-74

75-84

85-99

years---------------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------------

years ---------------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------------

years---------------------------------------------------

, Nonwhite female

Total, 1-99 years---------------------------------------

1-4 years-----------------------------------------------------

5-14 years----------------------------------------------------

15-24 yeara---------------------------------------------------

25-34 yeara---------------------------------------------------

35-44 yeara---------------------------------------------------

45-54 years---------------------------------------------------

55-64 years---------------------------------------------------

65-74 years---------------------------------------------------

75-84 years---------------------------------------------------

85-99 yeara---------------------------------------------------

] 16,775

358

304

336

694

1,513

2,218

3,064

4,079

2,884

1,325

:;

64

198

581

1,094

1,837

2>723

2,068

989

18

31

;:

326

557

622

649

323

98

116

122

1?;

117

94

G

61

25

lIncl~des103 recordswith age reportedaa 100 years and over on the death certificate.

2Completecategory titles and numbers of the SeventhReVisionof the InternationalLists. 1955. are as

follows:

Major cardiovascular-renaldiseasea (330-334,400-468, 592-594)

Malignantneoplasms (140-205)

Accidentstpoisonings, and violence (E800-E999)

All other cauaes (residual)

35
Table 4. Net difference rates and percent agreement for 10-year age intervals between the death certificate and

the matching 100-percent enumeration census

States, May-August 1960

record (stage I), by cause of death, color, sex, and age: United

Cause of death2

II I I I

Cause of death?

Color, sex, and agel

Malig- Accinancies d::::’

All

other

causes

All Cardio. Malig- Acci1

All

causes

vascular -c ~es dents, other

diseases etc. causes

White male

Total, 1-99 yearsNet difference rate Percent agreement

93.9

————

96.2

95.9

97.0

95.0

93.4

93.7

93.9

90.2

90.9

91.9

92.1

. . . 93.0 93.0 93.1 92.8

-0.6

0.2

-M

-4.1

-1.2

-::;

1.2

1.9

...

-0.9

-1.5

-1.8

-4.9

-4.0

-1.3

-0.6

-2.8

;:;

.,*

. . .

-22.6

-6.4

-13.3

-11.2

-5.7

-1.4

-::;

1.1

2.0

...

-17.1

-10.2

-12.4

-10.8

-5.3

-3.2

-1.7

-2.8

1.7

3.2

...

,.. . . . . . .

1-4 years -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 years ----------- 25-34 years -----------

35-44 years -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-64 years -----------

65-74 years -----------

75-84 years -----------

85.99 years -----------

White female

Total, 1-99 years-

-2.4

-0.3

-3.2

-6.3

-5.8

-0.9

0.1

!:!

-1.0

.,.

-1.1

-7.1

-6.2

-5.7

-4.4

-0.5

-M

4.1

2.8

...

-2?:;

-4.5

-10.5

;:;

3.6

-17.3

-26.7

...

0.6

0.1

;::

-2.0

-0.3

-0.1

-;.;

3:1

..?

-2.5

lt9

$:

-1:3

-Q.6

-6.5

U

,

...

-4.6

1.9

1.5

-;:2

2.9

-1;::

-27.8

11.5

...

0.4

-M

-7.1

-1.6

-1.2

-!::

1.5

3.9

...

-:::

-0.7

-2.4

-3.7

0.6

-1.1

.$;

1:2

...

1.5

-%;

-8.6

-0.8

5.2

8.8

-;:;

-21.3

...

96.5

95.7

95.3

91.0

91.2

93.4

93.5

92,8

93.0

92.7

90.5

97.2

94.6

93.6

90.5

90.6

91.5

89.9

:3.;

92:7

77.1

94.5

92.8

89.7

83.5

81.3

83.7

81.2

74.8

64.1

61.0

71.6

96.0

96.1

91.9

89.2

89.4

93.8

93.9

93.5

92.2

90.2

98.5

96.5

94.1

88.9

91.9

93.0

93.3

92.1

92.6

92.5

90.1 91.2 90.5

1-4 years -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 years -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 yea~s -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-64 years -----------

65-74 years -----------

75-84 years -----------

85-99 ye#s -----------

96.6

97.0

96.9

;3.:

92:0

92.0

84;0

92.5

90.8

86.2

—

92.8

94.4

93.9

88.5

83.8

83.8

79.2

65.2

56.9

84.6

86.1

95.7

96.7

96.6

91.0

86.3

85.1

70.8

64,6

67.2

80.0

98.4

95.9

95.2

92.8

91.1

92.3

89.4

86.7

91.0

92.8

79.2

Nonwhite male

Total, 1-99 years- 74.0 77.1

1-4 years -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 yea~s -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 years -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-64 years -----------

65-74 years -----------

75-84 ypars -----------

85-99 years -----------

-1.3

-;::

-3.2

-1.9

6.2

13.6

-13::

-23.3

...

-18.2

-18.8

-23,1

-11.3

-0.8

J::

J.:

-23:5

...

:.;

69:2

75.6

79.7

?32.4

80.8

74.8

63.3

61.4

96.8

100.0

75.0

81.8

79.5

84.3

81.5

77.1

64.0

54.3

95.9

92.4

84.2

79.4

82.1

85.9

82.6

74.1

67.4

61.1

75.9

Nonwhite female

.,

Togal? 1-99 years- 67.7 74.7

88.9

93.5

1-4 years -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 yFars -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 years -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-6+ years -----------

65-X4 years -----------

75-84 years -----------

85-99 years -----------

-1.7

-2,3

-4.8

-2.4

-1.1

13.3

23.6

-4.5

-17.2

-21.5

-23.5

-9.1

-18.8

-10.6

-0.7

16.7

26.6

-1.5

-18.0

-21.5

-11.1

3,2

-14.3

3.7

-1.8

12.2

15.3

-13.7

-13.0

-24.5

-2.6

:::

-2.7

-3.4

11.7

13.9

-7.7

-19.7

-;:;

-2.6

-;:;

7.2

24.6

-7.3

-16.4

-18.3

96.3

93.1

88,7

84.3

81,0

81.7

“75.2

65.0

58*7

60.7

76.5

87.9

75.0

78.8

77.8

80.8

74.0

65.2

57.5

60.6

98.1

90.7

92.3

86.8

83.0

78.4

77.5

63.6

59.0

64.8

75:0

79.3

81.9

85.6

77.5

65.3

63.5

56,1

lIpcludes 103 records with age reported as 10~ years and over on the deaCh certificate.

2Complete category titles and numbers of the Seventh Revisicm of the International Lists, 1955, are as

foq.ows :

Major cardiovascular-renal diseasps (33P-334, 400-468, 592-594)

Malignant neoplasms (140-2135)

Accidents, poisonings, and violence (E800-E999)

All other causes (residual)

36
the matching Z5-per.

1960

Table 5. Cross classification of S+rear we.- intervals as stated on the death certificate and on

cent sample census record (stage II), by color and sex: United States, May-August

[Numbersincludeallocationsofagesnotnqwtad on thecensusrecord;numberofallocationsk k superscript]

=

1

2

3

4Y

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

X5

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

,44

Age on death certificate

T

Total,

1 year

1-4

mi over

years

Color, sex, and

age on census recod 5-9

years

LOd4

rears

L5-19

rears

!0-24

rears

?5-29

rears

50-34

rears

55-39

rears

40A4

years

45-49

years

2,0781{

:

2

1

.1

52

~zz

~7e

1,S86

53

32

62

5s

51

31

;1

1,1521’

1

i

;1

~1

456

Q@

45=

281

3

AZ

1

2

1

:7,97’244a 4022

4064 387’2

3011 7

329

4311

40424

4077

54217

875=

1,449=

2,11917

3,10044

4,0943S

5,34480

6,54261

7,02249

6>34927

4,4991=

2,66s2°

‘9852

1651

41

;5,624sS7

3334 3161

1861 v

1701

199’9

1541

22520

35225

583~

88224

1,16322

White male

3091

&

281

-z

2

3

1

1

1

2

1

i

-

1811

+

174

T

-

3304 3794 3901 528s 8145 .,37011

i

1

+

272

q

49

~71

21

2

21

Al

il

11

807a

l’vtal,1 year and over-. 447

11

#

302

T

11

1

3

3

1

2

1

il

161s

1

*1

151=

-i

1

xl

2

-

-

1-4 years -----------------

5-9 years-----------------

1

1

14

~

4

3

41

1

4

1

1

186

1

175

T

2

-

-

-

.

2

.1

1

;2

~+

4s31

-zT

3

2

1

1

1

11

3054

1

;1

9

~o~

6

1

i

,-”

-

1

16

@Jl

4

2

1

1

3

5

3

1

i

1

195

5

183

%

2

-

.

.

.

.

1

4

6

@

762

-ii

2

32

3

1

21

11

-

5555

1

21

3

212

501

-m

52

3

1

-

.

10-14 years--------------- 3

1

2

-

3242

15-.1.9

2024

25-29

30-34

35-39

4’0A4

45-49

50-54

5559

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

BO-84

B5-89

90-94

95-99

years ---------------

years ---------------

years ---------------

years ----------------

years---------------

years--------=------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

years---------------

100 years and Over--------

White female

Weal, 1 year sad over--

1-4 ~ars -----------------

5.9 years------------------

10d4 years---------------

1549 years---------------

20-24 years---------------

25-29 years---------------

30-34 years---------------

35-39 years---------------

&O&4 years---------------

45A9 years---------------

50-34 years---------------

55S9 years---------------

60-64 years---------------

65-.S9years---------------

70.74 years---------------

75-79 years-r-------------

80-84 years---------------

85-89 years---------------

90.94 years---------------

95-99 years---------------

100 years and over--------

38
Table 5. Cross classification of 5-year age intervals as stated on the death certificate and on the matching 25-percent ample census reco-d (sttie II), by color ml sex: United States, May-August 1960-Con.

[Numbersincludeallocationsofagesnotreportedo. thecensusrecord;numberof allocationskin superscript

— .

=

1

2

3

4

5

6

-i

8

9

10

n

12

13

14

E“

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

&o

41

42

i.3

44

Age on death certificate

5054

years

100

years

.ar2a

over

305

;5

5

20 —

70

~

70 —

Rot

stated

m not

valid

5559

years

60-64

years

65-S9

years

70-74

years

75-79

years

80-84

years

S5-89

years

90-94

years

35-99

years

4,596=0

10

10

10

3010

145

202

~

155

5

5

5

5,16165

5

5

+

~05

X-5

5

4;1s

5010

26025

3~5

Q..?Q

2751=

40

5

1>00010

5

10

5

2010

40

90

&&l

10

10

1,62045

55

2“

~&

4010

2010

60

~610

%

5

3,08836 4,06727 5,27155 6,5357e ‘,1807a 6,3177c i,686=5

-

10

~os

55

10

155

55

150

i@@o

60

5

5,1993’3

55

10

5

55

5

105

31

1.20

19015

~

82

10

155

-

5

5

5

5

135 —

40G=5

5

55

5

5

55

55

55

10

205

10

25

295

%

8

.

-

2

i

2

1

1

1

22

4

6

144

8

168

2*S

le51e

232 =

~==

3658

794

248

42

1,05994

~;l~

5

55

5

E-5

10

2515

17520

2511C

&5ElQ

185

20

5

5

5>433al

155

5

255

5

&O

=5

@5

42525

~2=o

225

&Ji

&

2

2

4

41

Ill

~~1

57

138°

3 656=

q

334

#

#

11

1

1

2>055==

44

22

2=

62

64

MY

124

*88

2472=

5J&2

253

834

9

4

4

4>073e=

22

2

&

22

42

44

4

104

4

~46

602

2091=

=48

28010

822

l+

10=

s

3

1

1

i

4

&

54=

1067

2 49610

%5%

677

174

*1

.#

11

39
Table 5. Cross classification of 5-year we intervals as stated on the death certificate ad on the matching 25-percent seqple census record (etw-e 11), by color ~ sex: Udted States, ~y~usust 1960-Con.

[Numbersincludeallocationsofagesnotrepurtedon thecensusrecord;numberofallocationsk insuperecrip~

=

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

—

Age on death certificate

30-34

years

1A

years

5-9

rear.9

Lo-14

years

15-19

Tears

Color, sex, end

age on census record !IOtal.,

1 year

md over

20-24

years

15-29

rears

3549

years

40-44

years

45-49

years

Nonwhite male

Total,1 year and over--

981

4

.@

2

3

1

-

-,

.

43

-

&

‘1

i

-

.

.

1

.

-

-

-

1172

;1

5

Q

14

#

1

1

1

105

154=

1

-

1

9

J2+

2

1

2

2

;1

-

1755

2125

—-—-

;1

1

;1

1601

x3

31

~1

2114

4,9007=

123

641

751

962

732

932

120=

1692

2157

2923

3997

456=

4976

6176

58515

4644

2815

184

62

211

14

4,098=

120

IL-1

—1

1

1

~ol

z?

i

1

.

-

-

.

.

65

5

~

1

-

41

A

1

1

-

-

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

70

.

66

T

.

-

-

.

30

i

29 —

.

-

.

.

&j3

i

#

1

Q

5

1

1

-

il

il

30

3094

2

1

1

2

4

192

222]

@

14

6

2

-

Z@

1-4 years-----------------

5-9 years-----------------

10-14 years---------------

15-19 years---------------

20-24 years---------------

25-29 years---------------

30-34 years---------------

35-39 years---------------

40-44 years---------------

45-49 years---------------

50-54 years---------------

55,-59years ---------------

60-64 years---------------

65-69 years---------------

70-74 years---------------

75-79 years---------------

80-64 years---------------

85-69 years---------------

90-94 years---------------

95-99 years---------------

100 years and over--------

Nonwhite female

Total.,1 year and over--

601

421

32

~73

3+

514

1195

169=

2083

2793

283s

3326

4193

4838

4947

4255

2774

1891

~+

391

16

1-4 years-----------------

5-9 years-----------------

10-14 years---------------

15-19 years---------------

20-24 years---------------

.

i

1

27 —

1

-

.

i

2

~

7

1

1

il

-

1

-

1

1

22

18

142

ml

121

3

3

i

25..29years---------------

30-34 years---------------

35-39 years---------------

40-44 years---------------

45-49 years---------------

50-54 years---------------

55-59 years ---------------

60-64 years---------------

65-69 years---------------

70.74’years---------------

75-79 years---------------

80+4 years----------------

85-89 years---------------

90-94 years-----------.-c.-

95-99 years---------------

100 years and over--------
Tab&e 5. Cross classification of 5-year age intervals as stated on the death certificate and on the matching 25-per.

cent sample census record (stage II), by color and sex: United States, Nay-August 1960-Con.

rNumbersincludeallocationsofagesnotreportedon thscensuerecord; numberofallocationsk insuperscript

=

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

a

9

10

Xl.

M

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

?9

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

56

59

LO

L1

u

&3

M

Age on death certificate

100

rears

Not

stated

or not

valid

65-69

years

70-74

years

75-79

years

80-84

years

85-89

years

90-94

years

95-99

years

5054

years

5559

years

60-54

years and

over

4325 5047 67112

1

+

11

2

2

2

4

19

422

a’

1082

~2

242

9

4

1

489s

-

11

1

1

-

&

@

27

~7

1041

572

17=

11

4

3

1

538e

——

2

:

1

4

71

92

571

—341=

85

34

10

7

415’3

;

-.

1

2

51

El

352

220 .

7&

37

19

1

21

1

4ol’e 231’ 1442 545 6

i:

1

2’

1;

29

J&

33

3

1

232$

i3

2

5

51

10

17

~

5

1

1

1263

~1

i

i

1

41

4

8

~

1

1

62=

.

i

2

1

1

1

-

5

i

2

1

1

i

i

2

3

3

142

18

295=

T4

23

~~2

3

2

1

-

358=

i

1

~1

1

3

121

s+

3201

Tz

35

~~s

7

2

1

3953

i

21

5

6

26

1901

7

47

15

10

p

1

1

1

2

2

;1

4

15

514

19

4

2

1

1

2

9

5

$’

10

2

1

;~

1

4

3

20

30

135

-z%

7

5

..

..

..

..

il

..

..

..

..

1

..

41

~

2

8

&7

6

2

il

~1

il.

121

26

190

7

33

C#

7

3

2

1

1

1

1

21

32

4

~71

352

7

2

2

41
Table 6. Number of mstching 25-percent sample census records (stage II) and net difference rates fcm 10-year age

intervals, by cause of death, color, sex, and age: United Statea , May-).ug~st19fj0

Cause of deathl Cause of deathl

Color, sex, and age

All Cardio- Malig- Acci- All

auaea

vaacular dents, other

diseases ‘anc=es etc - causes

All Cardio- Malig- Acci- All

auses

vascular dents, other

diaeasea ‘ant ‘ea etc. causes

II I I I

White msle Net difference rate

Total, 1 year

and over-------

Number of matching census records

47,972

406

630

835

949

2,324

5,219

9,438

13,564

10,848

3,759

35,624

28,273 4,203

142

361

591

490

553

614

544

481

315

112

1,729

8,275

:;

75

129

315

950

1,943

2,531

1,780

414

7,074

7,221 . . . . . .

I

. . .

-2.1

2.5

-?::

-2.0

-3.4

-:::

6.7

2.7

...

. . .

1-4 yeara -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 years -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 yeara -----------

45-54 yeara -----------

55-64 years -----------

65-74 years -----------

75-84 years -----------

85 years and over-----

White femsle

Total, 1 year

and over-------

::

1%

1,031

2,821

5,526

8,458

7,355

2,805

21,336

H

62

135

376

961

2,493

5,731

7,484

4,053

2,490

2

4

;;

158

328

522

737

475

209

2,369

5

::

5[

14:

281

46f

65[

491

24;

202

151

110

154

425

834

1,425

2,094

1,398

428

5,485

-1.0

1.4

-1.1

-3.3

-6.0

-1.0

-1.1

:::

3.0

...

-18.2

-3.2

-23.7

-9.7

-9.7

-0.2

-1.8

-::;

3.4

-2:

-20.0

-8.5

-7.0

-0.7

-0.4

-::;

-2.2

I

. . . . . .

-26.7

-26.9

-25.8

-31.9

-12.2

-7.4

-3.4

-1.0

2.8

3.1

-7.0

-1.3

-7.0

-13.3

-9.5

1.6

-;:2

.;:2

1-4 years -------------

5-,14 years ------------

15-24 years -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 years -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-64 years -----------

65-74 yeara -----------

75-84 years -----------

85 years and over-----

333

356

353

577

1,465

2,752

5,129

9,297

10,198

5,164

4,900

123

139

169

213

384

691

953

1,202

745

28i

4,098

8C

i:

17(

37;

56;

751

97;

702

32:

43

77

43

128

536

1,069

1>594

1,964

1,275

345

719

9

E

12

;:

111

19e

20C

10?1!

661

114

124

130

135

195

208

220

227

250

126

627

40

lx

10[

8L

8;

4;

2$

lt

[

21t

31

2s

2L

z.

3:z.

11

1,

1!

I

161

129

118

179

358

514

822

1,375

1,18$

640

1,064

72

4:

::

9!

16!

18[

23(

14;

4!

85(

41

31

3:

1;

11(

12:

14’

11.

5

-2.7

-3.9

-4.2

-14.9

-7.0

-0.9

-2.0

-1,8

3.9

2.4

...

-2.4

-2.9

-1.2

-5.6

-4.7

7.2

14.4

-1:::

-14.9

...

-4.i

-11.0

-8.;

1::;

24.;

-7.:

-14.;

-28.;

-R

-H-0.5

-;::

-10.1

8.0

11.1

...

-7.5

-3.(

J::

-5.:

19.1

6.$

-61.1

75.(

...

6.;

-4.:

3.”

7.;

7.:

-14.:

“33.:

33.:

——

-2.5

-?:;

-9.5

-1.4

-:::

-2.3

6.2

-0.6

...

—

-2.;

-9.5

-6.3

-4.2

21::

-9.7

-8.2

-14.3

...

2.4

-16.1

-9.1

-1.4

7.3

3:::

-12.1

-18.6

-19.6

Nonwhite ms le

T;;dl~”;ryear

----.-- !

1-4 years -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 years -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 years -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-64 yeara -----------

65-74 years -----------

75-84 yeara -----------

85 years and over-----

-25.0

-50.0

-17.8

-4.4

10.1

13.2

12.5

-33.:

-14.$

9.[

9.;

-12:

-16.7

-15.2

-15.2

Nonwhite female

I

Total, 1 year

and over-------

1-4 yeara -------------

5-14 years ------------

15-24 years -----------

25-34 years -----------

35-44 years -----------

45-54 years -----------

55-64 years -----------

65-74 years -----------

75-84 years -----------

85 years and over -----

-21.1 -16.;

-22.2 -lo.!

2.8 -5.:

26.0 11.(

25.4 17.(

-5.5 -10. !

-13.6 -12. (

-31.4 -29.;

lComplete category titlea and numbers of the Seventh Revision of the International1 Lists, 1955, are as

follows;

Major cardiovascular-renal diseaaes (330-334, 400-468, 592-594)

Malignant neoplasma (140-205)

Accidentsj poisonings, and violence (E800-E999)

All other causea (residual)

42
Table 7. Actual and adjusted age-specific death rates for 10-year age interva1s, by specifiedcauaea of

death, color, sex, and age: United States, 1960

Color, sex, and age

White male

1-4 years---------------------

5-14 years--------------------

15-24 years-------------------

25-34 years-------------------

35-44 years-------------------

45-54 years-------------------

55-64 years-------------------

65-74 years-------------------

75-84 years------------;------

85 years and wer-------------

65 years and over-------------

White female

1-4 years---------------------

5-14 years--------------------

15-24 years-------------------

25-34 years-------------------

35-44 years-------------------

45-54 years-------------------

55-64 years-------------------

65-74 years-------------------

75-84 years-------------------

85 years snd over-------------

65 years and wer-------------

NonwhitemeIe

1-4 yenta---------------------

5-14 years--------------------

15-24 yeara-------------------

25-34 years-------------------

35-44 years-------------------

45-54 years-------------------

55-64 yeara-------------------

65-74 years-------------------

75-84 years-------------------

85 years and over-------------

65 years and wer-------------

Nonwhite female

1-4 years---------------------

5-14 years--------------------

15-24 years-------------------

25-34 years-------------------

35-44 years-------------------

45-54 years-------------------

55-64 years-------------------

65-74 years-------------------

75-84 years-------------------

85 years and over-------------

65 years and over-------------

All causes II Cause of death2

Cardiovascular

diseases Malignancies Accidents,etc.

Actual Adjustedl

Actual ‘ ‘d- 1 justed Actual ‘d- justed1 ‘ctwl ju%dl

Rate per 100,000 population

104.9

52.7

143.7

163.2

332.6

932.2

2,225.2

4,848.4

10,299.6

n,750.o

7,137.3

::.;

54:9

85.0

191.1

458.8

1,078.9

2,779.3

7,696.6

L9,477.7

5,256.7

207.3

75.2

213.8

386.4

729.2

1,551.0

3,151.5

5,664.0

8,662.6

15,238.7

6,923.9

174.4

53.4

106.1

260.0

547.3

1,144.9

2,409.7

3,981.4

6,708;4

12,871.2

5,215.2

106.0

52.0

145.3

168.8

353.8

941.6

2,249.9

4,795.6

10,238.2

21,116.5

7,052.7

87.6

36.1

57.3

99.9

205.~

463.0

1,100.9

2,830.2

7,407.7

19,021.2

5,184.1

2+;::

216.4

409.3

765.2

1,446.8

23756.8

5,630.2

10,215.~

17,906.8

7,413.2

174.4

55.7

119.2

283.2

534.5

969.4

1,940.2

4,304.7

7,864.5

17,926,5

6,015.~

2.2

2.5

2:::

128.4

478.5

1,263.5

2,998.0

7,029.2

15,977.8

4,713.7

;::

1:::

45.3

150.9

520.4

1,728.9

5,556.3

14,998.9

3,674.4

:::

16.6

65.8

248.2

719.1

1,738.5

3,400.7

5,571.1

10,356.8

4,314.0

4.9

1?::

65.2

209.3

572.4

1,460.5

2,681.1

;,;;;.:

,.

3,613.0

2.7

1:::

28.7

142.2

479.5

1,286.7

2,947.9

7,036.2

15,452.4

4,653.2

2.2

;::

22.5

51.6

163.0

538.7

1,746.4

5,405.0

14,547.9

3,616.5

6.8

3::;

80.0

259.6

653.1

1,535.8

3,276.2

6,600.8

12,433.1

4,574.8

6.1

2;::

83.8

203.6

454.3

1,164.7

2,837.1

5,505.2

13,601.5

4,148.1

13.1

1::!

18.8

46.3

164.1

450.9

887.3

1,413.7

1,791.4

1,073.4

::;

lR

66.6

175.7

329.0

562.1

939.3

1,304.9

718.4

8.2

4.9

9.2

18.2

71.7

233.6

549.8

927.5

1,086.1

1,211.7

982.4

i::

2;::

98.3

249.3

y;.:

702:3

727.5

591.0

12.8

1::3

20.5

49.8

165.3

452.7

860.6

1,419.4

1,831.7

1,059.6

10.4

6.3

;;::

172:9

324.5

577.1

873.8

1,339.7

711.3

8.2

1::$

18.2

84.3

214.3

501.2

927.5

1,280.8

1,439.1

1,044.0

R

3%;

103.6

223.4

365.6

602.7

798.1

1,027.5

677.8

32.4

25.7

105.2

88.8

88.2

111.0

128.7

163.1

297.1

664.5

223.5

23.5

10.8

23.5

21.8

26.0

34.2

42.0

69.2

211.4

683.5

149● 1

61.6

40.1

147.8

203.7

196.2

192.1

175.1

174.0

234.8

414.5

202.0

53.2

20.9

32.4

49.5

52.6

50.3

61.0

82.7

153.4

347.7

116.7

lAdjustedage-specificdeath rate - actual age-specificdeath rate + (1 + IIetdifference rate)

differencerates come from stage II data.

33.1

25.1

101.3

89.7

90.0

114.9

127.9

169.9

278.4

647.0

222.2

23.1

11.4

22.5

23.4

26.1

33.7

43.0

77.0

195.7

615.2

146.5

66.6

41.6

138.0

205.5

196.2

203.7

147.0

162.8

603.6

236.9

229.0

:;:;

46:8

57.0

96.5

230.0

260.8

136.2

The net

2Completecategory titles and numbers Of the

fOllows:

SeventhRevision of the InternationalLists, 1955, are as

Major cardiovascular-renaldiseases (330-334,400-468, 592-594)

Malignantneoplasms (140-205)

Accidents,poisonings,and violence (E800-E999)

All other causes (residual)

43
Table 8. Estimated corrected number of deaths for 5-year age intervals, by color, sex, and age:

United Statea, 1960

Age

Total, 1 year and over-----------------------------------

1-4 years------------------------------------------------------

5-9 years------------------------------------------------------

10-14 ~ears----------------------------------------------------

15-19 yeara----------------------------------------------------

20-24 years----------------------------------------------------

25-29 years ----------------------------------------------------

30-34 years----------------------------------------------------

35-39 years----------------------------------------------------

40-44 years----------------------------------------------------

45-49 years----------------------------------------------.-----

50-54 years----------------------------------------------------

55-59 years----------------------------------------------------

60-64 years----------------------------------------------------

65-69 years---------------------------.--------.---------------

70-74 years----------------------------------------------------

75-79 years----------------------------------------------------

80-84 years----------------------------------------------------

85-89 yeara----------------------------------------------------

90-94 years----------------------------------------------------

95-99 years----------------------------------------------------

100 years and wer---------------------------------------------

Number of deathsl

812,527

7,486

4,294

3,837

7,050

8,270

7,499

9,283

14,847

22,585

34,922

50,937

67,032

87,139

;:;,;3;

109;779

82,107

49,174

16,158

4,016

614

609,892

5,957

3,106

2,340

2,963

3,142

;,M:

8;828

13,807

18,451

24,944

32,797

47,953

64,794

;3,;;;

84;505

66,875

26,048

6,286

1,355

98,748

2,486

924

898

1,289

1,815

2,314

2,751

4,146

4>949

6,193

7,912

8,987

9,854

11,542

11,734

9,161

6,110

3,835

1,346

344

158

79.222

2,:C);

499

709

1,103

1,462

2,531

3,031

3,990

4,686

5,152

6,578

7,082

9,238

10,120’

7,715

5,339

4,218

1,818

796

322

lEsti~ted corrected number of deaths in age ~OuP i =

published number of deaths in age groupi ~ total number of published deaths all ages

(l+net difference rate for age”groupil “ total number of esthated deaths all ages

whete the net difference rates were derived from a comparison of age statement between the death

certificate and the matching 25-percent sample census record (stage II) including the allocations

for ,ages not reported on the census record, and the published number of deaths came from Vital

Statistics of the United States, 1960, Vol. II, Part A, page 5-182, table 5-11.

44
TECHNICAL

Design of the Study

The data used in this report are a byproduct

of the study, Social and Economic Differentials in

Mortality, United States, 1960, which has as its

primary objective the provision of nationwide

statistics on mortality differentials by various

social and economic characteristics collected

in the 1960 census. To this end, for those death

certificates selected for the 4-month period MayAugust 1960, a manual search was made for

matching census records in the 1960 files.

Of the approximately 535,000 deaths which

occurred during the 4-month period, about 340,000

were selected for the search. All nonwhite decedents were selected as well as all white decedents

under age 65, one-half of the white decedents

65-74 years old, and one-fifth of the white decedents 75 years and older. Thus the data presented

in this re~rt have been inflated by the following

factors:

1 x Sample number of all nonwhite decedents

and white decedents under 65 years of age

2 x Sample number of white decedents 65-

74 years of age

5 x Sample number of white decedents 75

years of age and over

If the decedent was found in the 100-percent

census enumeration (stage I) and it was indicated

there that a 25-percent census sample record

(stage II) existed for him, his stage 11 record

was searched since most social and economic

characteristics in the 1960 census were collected

in stage.11.

Definitions

The demographic characteristics of the decedent—sex, color, and geographic region of residence—used in this report are census rather

APPENDIX

thandeath certificate designations. Cause of death

was taken from the death certificate and grouped

into the four following major cause categories:

Major

cause-f death category

Major cardiovascularrenal.diseases---------

Malignant neoplasms-----

Accidents, poisonings,

and violence-----------

All other causes--------

Intem2ational Lists

Numbers

330-334,400-468,592-594

140-203

E800Z999

Residual.codes

Unmatched Deaths

Approximately 23 percent of the total sampled

death certificates were not matched with the 1960

stage I records. ‘his rate is slightly reduced to

21 percent when decedents under 1 year of age

on the death certificate are eliminated-akout

35,000 such records. Many of the infant decedents

were born after the April 1960 enumeration, and

their death certificates were matched with the

mother’s census record. Although over 65 percent

of the death certificates for infants were matched

with the census record, many of these records

would be for the mother only, prior to birq, of

the infant, so that exclusion from this analysis

of all decedents under 1 year of age on the death

certificate seemed ju@ified.

There was considerable variation in the nonmatch rate for subgroups of the total sample.

For example, rates of about 35 uercent existed

for white decedents aged

pared with 20 percent or

years or over (table I).

15-34 years as comIess for those aged 55

Other subgroups with

45
Table I. Percent of

matched with census

death certificates

records, by color,

sex. and age on death certificate:

United State;, May-Augu$t 1960

,.

Age

Total,

1+ years1-4 years---

5-14 years--

15-Z4 years25.3& years35-44 years45.54 years55-64 years65-74 y.ears75+ years---

White

Male

80.7

76.4

80.8

64.8

66.1

75.0

79.4

81.3

82.9

81.9

Female

81.3

75.4

81.7

69.6

74.9

80.3

82.7

83,2

82.8

80,5

Nonwhite

--1-- Male Female

69.6 \ 72.7

71.9

59.7

52.0

56.9

66.7

73.0

75.4

75.5

66.91 66.1

76.6

60.1

60:6

69.0

71.7

75.0

74.5

75.2

higher than average nonmatch rates were the

nonwhite decedents, decedents of the ;South and

West Regions, and decedents whose deaths were

from accidents, poisonings, and violence and

from other causes ofdeath(table II).

Many factors may be responsible for the

large number of unmatched records. One maybe

residential mobility between thetimeofenumeration and the date of the individual’s death. Other

factors may be census underenumeration of

various subgroups of the population, processing

and/or coding errors on either set of records,

and reporting errors on either set of records on

crucial, identifying pieces of information.

Potentially “match bias” (i.e., the bias introduced into the data as a result of using only

matched records to analyze age comparability)

could”be a serious problem, anditis one which

cannot be easily quantified. From thecompariTable II. Percent distribution of total, matched, and unmatched decedents, by selected death certificate characteristics: United States, May-August 1960

Death certificate

characteristic I

Total IIMatched ~~~ed

Color I

Percent distribution

Total--------- WI 100”O! 100”0

White --------------- 89.0 90.3 84.2

Nonwhite------------ 11.0 9.7 15.8

—Sex I II I

Total---------

Din

100.0 100.0 100.0

Male ---------------- 56.8 56.6 57.9

Female-------------- 43.2 43.4 42.1

Age

—

Total--------- 100.0 100.0 100.0

1-4 years-----------

5-14 years----------

15-24 years---------

25-34 years---------

35-44 years---------

45-54 years---------

55-64 years---------

65-74 years---------

75 years and wer---

Not reported --------

1.1 1.0

1.2 1.2 H

1,5 3.2

;:; 3.8

4.7 ::;

9.9 9.7 1:::

17.1 17.3 16.3

25.9 26.6 23.0

35.9 36.3 34.2

0.0 0.0 0.1

lNumbers after

tional Lists, 1955.

46

Death certificate

characteristic

Rezicm

Total--------

Northeast ---------

North Gentral-----

South-------------

West --------------

cause of deqthl

Total--------

Major cardiovascular-renal diseases----330-334,

400-468, 592-594

Malignant neoplasms----140-205

Accidents, poisonings, and violence---E800-E999

All other

causes---residual

Tota 1

IIMatched ~~~ed

1! 1

Percent distribution

100.0

28.0

29.7

28.2

14.1

100.0

57.8

17.8

8.2

16.2

100.0

28.9

30.6

26.7

13.8

100.0

58.9

18.1

7.2

15.7

100.0

24.2

26.2

34.1

15.4

100.0

53.1

16.7

11.8

18.3

causes of death are category numbers of the Seventh Revision of the Interna-
sons made between the distributions of the

matched and unmatched decedents by their respective death certificate characteristics, it is

not possible to infer whether the age correspondence for the unmatched decedents, had their

census records been found, would have been

worse, the same, or better than that for the

matched. On the other hand, there are several

reasons for assuming that the findings of this

study based on matched records probably indicate

more age agreement than is actually the case for

all records.

One major reason for this assumption comes

from the match process itself. Age may have

been used in the match operation in order to

determine if a census record with similar but not

‘identical spellings of name and/or street constituted a match. Also it is conceivable that two

records would be classified as not matched because of large age discrepancies.

Moreover, results from an independent

follow-back survey indicated some relationship

between levels of education and income and the

proportion of decedents not found in the census.

As part of the study, Social and Economic Differentials in Mortality, United States, 1960, a

sample of about 10,000 death certificates was

selected from the original 340,000 certificates,

and questionnaires similar in content to the stage

H census forms were mailed to the informants

on the death certificates. One purpose of this

follow-back survey was to provide survey information for decedents not found in the census. 14

According to survey responses for white decedents, a somewhat larger proportion of white females (but not white males) with low education

and white males (but not white females) with low

income levels were not found in the census than

the proportion not found with high education and

high income. 15 If these characteristics of education and income are positively related to age

agreement between records, this is a further

indication that the unmatched record would probably have less age agreement than the matched.

A rough indication of how different results

would have been had census records been found

for the unmatched decedents can be arrived at

by assuming that these records would have had

either perfect or no age agreement with the

death certificate. The measures calculated under

these assumptions suggest that if there were no

agreement, the results presented here are extreme overstatements of the level of age agreement that actually exists, whereas if there were

perfect agreement, these results only slightly

understate the amount of agreement. Since the

data used to make these two assertions are

hypothetical and might confuse the issue, they

are not shown.

Sources and Limitations of Data

Two series of comparisons of age information are available: (1) death certificate age information cross classified by census age information

from the 100-percent enumeration (stage 1), and

(2) death certificate age information cross classified by census age information from the 25-

percent sample (stage II).

Series 1—Death Certificate and Stage I Census

Record Compwisons of Age Infownation

Stage I data were selected for evaluating age

comparability for two reasons: (1) they represent

to a greater extent than stage II data the actual,

unedited age information reported on the census

record, (2) the estimates derived from them are

subject to less sampling error than those from

stage H-e.g., the number of records available

for detailed subcategories such as age, sex, color,

and cause of death become so small in stage H

that sometimes fewer than 10 records are involved.

For this study stage I data were manually

coded, not processed by FOSDIC as was the procedure for the official census publications. The

date of birth reported on the stage I census was

coded into quarter of year, century, decade, and

year and later converted to an “updated age”

based on the month of death and the quarter of

year of birth to correct for a birthday that might

have occurred in the interval between the date of

the census and the date of death. A combined code

was used for quarter of year and century of birth

which resulted in some obvious errors when converted to age because of the confusing construction of the code: a number of records turned up

witk negative ages or ages implausibly over 100

years. Ultimately, all records with negative ages

47
calculatedfrom the stage I census and all records

with ages of 100 and over on either the census

or the death record were eliminated from the

comparison of response analysis—-835 such records were omitted.

In addition to these, other records were

excluded—3 ,033 records where age was not

stated on one or the other source since these

are essentially out of the realm of measuring

comparability in age statement (the great bulk of

them had no age information on the census record); 34 records with processing errors resulting

in impossible age codes (’‘not valid” ages); and

an estimated 2,687 records where sex and/or

color were not stated on the census record (table

III). More record losses were incurred in the

data by single years of age where a couple of

thousand records did not have year but did have

century and decade of birth (e.g., 194-) on the

census record. These records were allocated to

year 5 and were included with the reported ages

in the data by 5- and 10-year age intervals.

Measures of age comparability based on these

data are of somewhat limited generality. The

smallest contribution to the limitations comes

from the sampling error. For most statistics

shown in this report, the sampling error is either

zero or of negligible size. Except for statistics

based on the stage II census match, the sampling

error is zero for all measures for nonwhite decedents and for all white decedents under age 65.

Many of the measures for white decedents over

65 have sampling errors of less than 2 percent

of the measure itself.

A rough approximation to the sampling error

of a proportion or rate, P, shown in the report

may be computed from the formula:

r

UP= PQ where n is the sample size and Q= 1–P

T

Stage I— White persons 65 years and ovw

(1) Ages 65-74: Divide the recorded estimate in table 1 by 2.

(2) Ages 75 and over: Divide the recorded

estimate in table 1 by 5.

However, more serious limitations in these

measures of age comparability do arise from

other sources. The largest is probably the potential “match bias” discussedpreviously.Another,

Table III. Actual and inflated number of

records ultimately used in Census-Death

Certificate Matched Re,cord Study and

enumeration of excluded records: United

States, May-August 1960

Status of records

Searched in

stage I censusUltimately used in

study------------

Excludedl---------

Not found in

stage I census-----

Rejected-impossible codes-----

Decedents under 1

year on death

certificate--------

Sex and/or color

not stated on

census..-----------

Ages negative or

100 years and overAges not reported

or “not valid’’-----

Actual

count of

records

340,033

232,752

107,281

77,067

483

23,176

12,687

835

3,033

Inflated

number of

records

533,743

386,438

147,305

112,656

798

23,176

4,371

1,557

4,747

‘By subtraction from total searched.

but perhaps not as serious, source would be the

potential “seasonal bias” introduced bythe selection of deaths occurring only in the summer

months May-August.

Series 2—Death Certificate and Stage II Census

Record Comparisons of Age Response

The denominator of an actual or published

age-specific death rate is based on edited census

data. One part of the editing process involves

allocation of an age to persons with no age

reported on the census record, taking into account other related information for those persons

such as sex, color or race, marital status, and

relationship to head of household. To evaluate the

accuracy of the death rate bythemethod discussed

in the text, estimates of the percentage error in

the age-specific death rate come from the stage

\

I data which were treated in the usual census

/

48 * U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINT3NG OFFICE :1972 482-007/33
manner

unusual

in this

contain

just described, as opposed to the rather

process that stage I data were subject to

study. Stage II data, therefore, do not

the kind of record losses as stage I data.

Records of ages under 1 were omitted but ages

100 and over are included, and there were no

cases of not stated age, sex, or color since they

were allocated. Of the 64,675 records which

were designated on. the stage I census as being

included in the stage H sample, 62,487 were

found. Beyond the initial loss of records not

found in stage 1, a further loss of less than 4

percent of the records was incurred in the stage

II match operation.

As an interesting consequence of examining

stage II data, it was found that the census allocation of not stated ages agreed only 20 percent of

the time with the 10-year age group containing

the age stated on the death certificate. It may be

that the allocation procedure is more satisfactory

on a group than on an individual basis. Or it may

be satisfactory for the population as a whole but

not suitable for the population of decedents in

this study, particularly for the age groups 25-34

and 35-44 years. On the other hand, it may be

that individuals with nonresponses constitute a

special group and that information on either

record for them is subject to question. Table IV

contains figures for the two measures used (percent agreement and net difference rates) based

on the three types of data available—stage I unedited data, stage H data with allocations, and

stage H data excluding allocations. Although the

source of data does affect the degree of age comparability within each age, sex, and color category, the relative differences among age, sex,

and color groups are not disturbed to any appreciable extent.

When net difference rates based on stage 11

data without allocations were used to adjust agespecific death rates, these adjusted rates were

not seriously different from those based on the

data with allocations. For purposes of comparison, adjusted age-specific death rates based

on the three types of data are presented in table

V, For almost all categories of age, sex, and

color the choice of data makes little difference

in the adjusted rates. The exception to this occurs

in the age group 85 and over for nonwhite males

and females where adjusted rates differ considerably. But while the data from stage 11with allocations give the lowest adjusted rate for the nonwhite males, the same data give a higher adjusted

rate for nonwhite females so that the choice of

data does not appear to affect the results in any

one direction.

The data for Series 2 comparisons are subject to the same limitations in generality described in stage I with the additional disadvantage

of being subject to larger sampling errors. That

is, beyond the sampling done to select decedents

to match with census records, the stage II information was collected for only 25 percent of the

population.

The sampling errors of estimates based on

stage II census reports may be quite large for

certain groups where proportions and frequencies

are small. This is true for both white and nonwhite decedents and particularly for the younger

ages.

For stage II estimates most of the required

sample sizes may be obtained directly from table

8, except for white persons 65 and over. For

estimates of white persons 65 and over based on

stage II and for estimates not based on stage II

census records, the appropriate sample sizes

may be obtained as follows:

Stuge II— White $ersons 65 years and over

(1) Ages 65-74--Divide the recorded estimate in table 8 by 2.

(2) Ages 75 and over–Divide the recorded

estimate in table 8 by 5.

Alternative Method for Adiusting Death

Rates Using Comparison of Response Results

In the text of this report estimates were

provided of adjusted age-specific death rates

where the net difference rates calculated from the

comparison of age response data were applied

directly to the published age-specific death rates.

In addition, table 8 presented the estimated corrected number of deaths in 1960 where the same

net difference rates were applied to the published

number of deaths. One consequence of using these

net difference rates is that the total number of

corrected deaths over all ages differed from the

total number of deaths reported in official publications and, therefore, the individual figures had to

49
Table IV. Comparison of net

by color, sex,

difference rates and percent agreements based on three types

and 10-year age intervals: United States, May-August 1960

of data,

Sex and age

Male

1-4 years------------------------

5-14 years-----------------------

15-24 years----------------------

25-34 years----------------------

35-44 years----------------------

45-54 years----------------------

55-64 years----------------------

65-74 years----------------------

75-84 years----------------------

85 years and over----------------

Female

1-4 years------------------------

5-14 years-----------------------

15-24 years----------------------

25-34 years----------------------

35-44 years----------------------

45-54 years----------------------

55-64 years----------------------

65-74 years----------------------

75-84 years----------------------

85 years and over----------------

Male

1-4 years------------------------

5-14 years-----------------------

15-24 years----------------------

25-34 years----------------------

35-44 years----------------------

45-54 years----------------------

55-64 years----------------------

65-74 years----------------------

75-84 years ----------------------

85 years and over----------------

Female

1-4 years------------------------

5-14 years-----------------------

15-24 years----------------------

25-34 years----------------------

35-44 years----------------------

45-54 years----------------------

55-64 years----------------------

65-74 years----------------------

75-84 years----------------------

85 years and over----------------

Stage I

census

ages not

reported:

excluded

-0.6

0.2

-::;

-4.1

-1.2

-::;

l~:j

-0.9

-1.5

-1.8

-4.9

-4.0

-1.3

-0.6

-2.8

1;:;

96.5

95.7

95.3

91.0

91.2

93.4

93.5

92.8

1;;:;

97.2

94.6

93.6

90.5

90.6

91.5

89.9

87.7

91.5

192.7

White I

Nonwhite

Stage II census

ages not reported:

I

Allocated Excluded

Stage I

k

Stage 11 census

census ages not reported:

ages not

reported:

excluded Allocated

-1.0

1.4

-1.1

-3.3

-6.0

-1.0

-1.1

1.1

0.6

3.0

-2.7

-3.9

-4.2

-14.9

-7.0

-0.9

-2.0

-1:8

3.9

2.4

Net difference rate

-0.5

0.8

1.5

-1.4

-5.2

-0.9

-0.7

0.8

M

-2.1

-4.5

-2.6

-7.4

-5.5

-0.5

-1.2

-;.:

1:3

-1.3

-$$

-3.2

-1.9

1:::

-1;::

I-23.3

-1.7

-2.3

-4.8

-2.4

-1.1

13.3

23.6

-4.5

1:;;:;

Percent agreement

95.3 95.8

94.6 94.6

91.7 94.6

89.6 91.7

88.4 89.8

91”4 92.2

91.1 92.0

92.4 92.9

92.2 92.5

93.5 93.8

94.9 95.7

93.0 92.9

90.7 92.5

81.8 89.2

86.1 88.2

88.6 90.2

87.3 88.7

86.5 87.6

90.1 90.7

91.1 91.6

94.5

92.8

89.7

83.5

81.3

83.7

81.2

74.8

64.1

161.0

1

96.3

93.1

88.7

84.3

81.0

81.7

75.2

65.0

1;::;

-2.4

-2.9

-1.2

-5.6

-4.7

1;::

-15:2

-14.9

-4.1

-11.0

-8.2

1::!

24.2

-7.5

-14.7

-28.2

95.1

89.9

87.0

79.8

79.7

82.6

79.7

74.1

62.8

64.4

97.5

93.2

82.9

76.5

80.4

81.1

72.2

62.0

60.5

55.7

E<cluded

-2.4

-1.5

-1.2

-5.8

-4.0

7.5

14.1

0.8

-15.5

-16.4

-2.7

-6.4

-3.7

1:::

23:6

-7.7

-14.9

-29.1

95.1

91.2

88.5

81.3

81;1

83.4

80.4

74.9

63.6

64.3

97.5

94.5

87.2

80.7

81.1

82;3

72.6

62.6

61.3

55.9

lRefers to ages 85-99 Years.

50
Table V. Comparison of-adjusted age-specific death rates for 10-year age intervals based on three types

of data used for adjustments,by color, sex, and age: United States, May-August 1960

Sex and age

Male

1-4 years--------

5-14 years-------

15-24 years------

25-34 years------

35-44 years------

45-54 years------

55-64 years------

65-74 years------

75-84 years------

85+ years--------

Female

1-4 years--------

5-14 years-------

15-24 years------

25-34 years------

35-44 years------

45-54 years------

55-64 years------

65-74 years------

75-84 years------

85+ years--------

Actual

agespecific

death

ratel

1.0

0.5

1.4

1.6

3.3

2;:;

48.5

103.0

217.5

::;

0.5

$!:;

1::!3

27.8

77.0

194.8

White I

Adjusted age-specific death

rate I

Stage I

census

ages nOt

reported:

excluded

agespecific

death

ratel

1.0

0.5

1.4

1.7

:::

22.3

48.6

2;;:::

0.9

::;

0.9

::!

10.9

28.6

75.1

%89.5

Nonwhite

Adjusted age-specific death

rate

Stage I

I

Stage II census

census ages not reported

ages not

reported:

excluded -

Rate per 1,000 population

1.0

0.5

1.4

1.7

;::

22.5

4s.0

102.4

211.2

0.9

::;

1.1

:::

11.0

28.3

74.1

190.2

1.0

;:2

1.6

;:2

22.5

48.1

102.8

212.2

0.9

~::

.

:::

10.9

28.3

74.7

192.3

2.1

0.8

2.1

3.9

1;:;

31.5

56.6

86.6

152.4

1.7

0.5

1.1

2.,6

;::;

39:8

67.1

128.7

2.1

0.8

:::

J::

27.7

55.4

102.0

~198.7

1.7

?:2

:::

10.1

19.5

41.7

%%::

2.2

0.8

5:

1::1

27.5

56.3

102.1

179.1

1.7

0.5

1.2

2.8

5.4

1:::

43.0

78:7

179.2

2.2

0.8

;::

7.6

;$.;

56:2

102.5

182.3

43.1

78.8

181.5

lNatiOnalCenter for Health Statistics:Vital Statistics Of the United states, 1960, Vol. II, Part A,

Public Health Service, Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963.

2Refers to ages 85-99 years.

be adjusted to add to the total. It was mentioned

inthe textthat theadjustment proceduredescribed

is highly specific: if deaths to be corrected are

by sex, color, age, an~cause ofdeati or marital

status or some other variable, the net difference

rates used to correct these deaths should come

from comparison of age response data by age,

sex, color, and cause ofdeathor marital status.

Since such comparisons of age response are not

available by detailed cause ofdeati or bymarital

status, some provision should bemade to adjust

those deaths with the data available. Insofaras

the deaths to be corrected are similar in age

distribution to the deaths in this study group,

although age reporting may differ tifiin detailed

cause of deathorwitiinmarital statuscategories,

it is possible to use the metiod described in the

text for approximate adjustment pu~oses. However, when the age distribution oftiedeathsto be

corrected is very different from that for the

deaths in this study group, an alternative method

for adjustment maybe preferred.

One alternative procedure proposed by Dr.

Kitagawa 16 has the additional advantage (besides

being applicable regardless of age distributions)

of forcing the total estimated corrected number

of deaths to be the same as the official totals.

‘lleprimar ymethodological difference inthe two

adjustment procedures is that whereas the one

used in this report relies on the marginal distributions of the comparison of age response

results, the alternative procedure uses theentire

cross classification ofage response data.

In both cases the analysis is specificforage,

color, and sex. The basic data involvedareshown

below.

51
Comparison of Resportse Results

Death certificate age

Census record age

1-4

5-9

.

.

.

Total -------------------

years ---------------------

years ---------------------

k years ---------------------

.

.

.

n years - . . -- -- - -- -- - -. -- - -- -

Actual Deaths, United States, 1960

D= (D1D2. .. DDn). Dn)

Total

y’h

-

xx =C2

J 2j

.

.

.

2X =Ck j kj

.

.

.

;Xn, = c“

Estimated Coyrected iVumbey of Deaths, United

States, 1960

i)=(61i)2...fibn).bn)

By the method used intiis study

1-4

x

11

X21

.

.

.

‘k 1

.

.

.

x

nl

5-9

;X,2 =d

2

’12

’22

.

.

.

xk2

.

.

‘n2

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

k

Zx = dk

i ik

‘lk

‘2k

.

.

.

x

kk

x

nk

. . .

—

. . .

. . .

. . .

. .

. . .

.—

n

;X,n = d

n

x In

‘2n

.

.

x kn

.

xnn

where~is the adjustment factor needed to

make t{e adjusted age-specific deaths addto the

published total number ofdeaths

By the alternative method

As an example, consider the comparison of

age response results shown in table 8 fcw nonwhite males presented here in broad age categories.

52
Comparison of Response Results Estimated Comected Number of Deaths, United

States, 1960

I

Death certificate age

Census recora age

~‘“’a’ ‘:$s

l-l Total---- 4,900 255 I

734 1,831 2,080

I I

1-14 years--- 262 249 9 4 -

15-44 years-- 766 6 677 65 18

45-64 years-- 1,644 42 1,498 104

65+ years---- 2,228 6 264 1,958

Actual Deaths, United States, 1960

Age Total

1-14 15-44 45-64 65+

years years years years

Number--- 98,748 4,218 16,521 36,806 41,203

-T-i Method used in this

report

AlterAge native

Not

Corrected method

corrected

to total to total

Total---------- 98,756 98,748 98,748

I I

1-14 years--------- 4,332 II14,332 24,402

15-44 years-------- 17,248 17,247 17,000

45-64 years-------- 33,048 33,045 33,118

65+ years---------- 44>128 44,124 44,228

l~ethod used in this report:

4,332= 4,218 ~~x ‘8-748

Zmtemtive methcd:

4,402= 249 X 4;:? +

● o ~ 41,203

2,080

000

53
OUTLINE OF REPORT SERIES FOR VITAL AND HEALTH STATISTICS

Public Health Service Publication No. 1000

Series 1.

Sew-es 2.

Series 3.

~eries 4.

series 10.

SeVies 11.

Series 12.

&eries 13.

,#cries 20.

1!

‘series 21.

l/Sevies 22.

~,

Programs and collection procedures.- Reports which describe the general programs of the National

Center for Health Statistics and its offices and divisions, data collection methods used, definitions,

and other material necessary for understanding the data.

Data evaluation and methods research. —Studies of new statistical methodology including: experimental tests of new survey methods, studies of vital statistics collection methods, new analytical

techniques, objective evaluations of reliability of collected data, contributions to statistical theory.

Analytical studies.— Reports presenting analytical or interpretive studies based on vital and health

statistics, carrying the analysis further than the expository types of reports in the other series.

Documents and committee reports. —Final reporta of major committees concerned with vital and

health statistics, and documents such as recommended model vital registration laws and revised birth

and death certificates.

Data from the Health Iaterview Survey. —Statistics on illness, accidental injuries, disability, use of

hospital, medicai,, dental, and other services, and other heal~-related topics, based on data collected

in a continuing national household interview survey.

Data from the Health Examination Survey. - Data from direct examination, testing, and measurement of national samples of the population provide the basis for two types of reports: (1) estimates

of the medically defined prevalence of specific diseases in the United States and the distributions of

the population ~th respect to physical, physiological, and psychological characteristics; and (2)

analysis of relationships among the various measurements without reference to an explicit finite

universe of persons.

Data from the Institutional Po@dation Survey s.- Statistics relating to the health characteristics of

persons in institutions, and on medical, nursing, and personal care received, based on national

samples of establishments providing these services and samples of the residents or patients.

Data flom the Hospital Discharge SWWey.—Statistics relating to discharged patients in short-stay

hospitals, based on a sample of patient records in a national sample of hospitals.

Data on mortaZity.-Various statistics on mortality other than as included in annual or monthly

reports-special analyses by cause of death, age, and other dern~raphic variables, also geographic

and time series analyses.

Data on natality, marriage, and divorce. —Various statistics on natality, marriage, and divorce other

than as included in annual or monthly reports— special analyses by demographic variables, also

geographic and time series analyses, studies of fertility.

Data Jrom the National Nataiity and Mortality Surveys. —Statistics on characteristics of births and

deaths not available from the vital records, based on sample surveys stemming from these records,

including such topics as mortality by socioeconomic class, medical experience in the last year of

life, characteristics of pregnancy, etc.

/For a listoftitlesofreports published in these series, write to: Mice of Information

* National Center for Health Statistics

U.S. Public Health Service

Washington, D.C. 20201

?

/-”