Recording of diabetes on death certificates: Has it improved?

Objective: To determine whether the recording of diabetes on death certificates improved from 1986 to 1993. Method: Comparison of two National Mortality Follow-back Surveys that selected independent samples of death certificates with the purpose of obtaining information from informants about the decedents. Results: The recording of diabetes on death certificates did not improve from 1986 to 1993. Conclusion: Periodic monitoring of the accuracy of death certificates is essential for proper interpretation of mortality statistics which are routinely used to describe the burden of diabetes in our society. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.