BACKGROUND: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate: infant and under age five mortality rates in Istanbul in year 2005 and the distribution the reported causes of mortality in these children; the relationship between monetary value of the place of residence and the mortality cause and to evaluate the quality of death records.
MEDHODS: In the cross-sectional study, data were abstracted from cemetery electronic records, obtained from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. A total of 4801 deaths under age five was recorded. Mortality causes coded by researchers based on the ICD-10 coding system and quality of the Registry was further evaluated. The relationship between place of residence and distrbibution of mortality causes was studied using Chi-square test.
RESULTS: Missing data were detected in all parameters except name, age, burial date and name of cemetery. Causes of death and name of the reporting physician were not recorded in 38.87% and 37.41% of cases, respectively. The death rates (infant mortality rate: 23.8 and under age five mortality rate: 25.9) calculated in this study are close to the figures (19 and 32) obtained by the Turkish Demographic and Health Survey (TNSA) for year 2003. According to Turkish Statistics Agency classification, in Istanbul, other causes of perinatal mortality 1048 (21.8%), birth injury, difficult labor, other anoxic and hypoxic conditions 506 (10.5%), were the most common death causes under age 5 in year 2005.
CONCLUSION: Use of ICD-10 coding system in completing death records, adequate training of the personnel, and preparation of a weekly bulletin which provides feedback for mistakes will support the improvement of death recording system.
Key words: Child mortality, mortality causes, death records, İstanbul Article Language: Turkish English
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