INTRODUCTION: There is uncertainty regarding the completeness of @entity204 recording by civil registration and by health centres in South Africa. This paper aims to compare @entity204 recording by the two systems, in cohorts of South African patients receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). METHODS: Completeness of @entity204 recording was estimated using a capture-recapture approach. Six ART programmes linked their @entity1 record systems to the vital registration system using civil identity document (ID) numbers and provided data comparing the outcomes recorded in @entity1 files and in the vital registration. @entity1 were excluded if they had missing/invalid IDs or had transferred to other ART programmes. RESULTS: After exclusions, 91,548 @entity1 records were included. Of @entity204 recorded in @entity1 files after 2003, 94.0% (95% CI: 93.3-94.6%) were recorded by civil registration, with completeness being significantly higher in urban areas, older adults and females. Of @entity204 recorded by civil registration after 2003, only 35.0% (95% CI: 34.2-35.8%) were recorded in @entity1 files, with this proportion dropping from 60% in 2004-2005 to 30% in 2010 and subsequent years. Recording of @entity204 in @entity1 files was significantly higher in @entity1 and in locations within 50 km of the health centre. When the information from the two systems was combined, an estimated 96.2% of all @entity204 were recorded (93.5% in @entity1 and 96.2% in adults). CONCLUSIONS: South Africa's civil registration system has achieved a high level of completeness in the recording of mortality. However, the fraction of @entity204 recorded by health centres is low and information from @entity1 records is insufficient by itself to evaluate levels and predictors of ART @entity1 mortality. Previously documented improvements in ART mortality over time may be biased if based only on data from @entity1 records.

A comparison of XXXX recording by health centres and civil registration in South Africans receiving antiretroviral treatment.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['children', 'Patients', 'patients', 'patient'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death', 'deaths']
@entity204 :: (MESH:D003643,Disease) :: ['death']
