Abstract
In order to assess the incompleteness in filling out death certificates (DC) in the regional health offices of the State of Pernambuco a descriptive study was conducted on data for infant mortality information on deaths of children under one year of age in the municipalities of Pernambuco in the 1999-2001 and 2009-2011 threeyear periods. The percentage of incompleteness was based on the blank/unknown responses in the DCs per regional health office and the proportional variation rate of incompleteness between the two periods. It was observed that the filling out of information did not show a well-defined pattern per office, with a reduction in incompleteness occurring for most variables, though the sex, age and place of occurrence of death variables alone revealed ≤ 5% incompleteness in the second term of study, which was considered excellent in terms of the Romero and Cunha scores. Despite the decrease in incompleteness related to pregnancy, childbirth and mother-related variables, in the second triennium incompleteness between 10 and 20% was observed, with a regular score in the 2009-2011 triennium. Despite the improvement in the filling out of details in the State, it is necessary to strengthen surveillance and training for completing the DCs by the Committees for Prevention of Infant Mortality.
Key words
Infant mortality; Information systems; Vital statistics