Vital and Health Statistics, Series 2, Number 151. Education Reporting and Classification on Death Certificates in the United States: Data Evaluation and Methods Research

摘要

This report analyzes education reporting and classification on the death certificate and their effect on estimates of mortality and life expectancy by education level in the United States. The National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) was used to analyze education information on the death certificate for participants in the Current Population Survey (CPS) from 1992 through 1998 who died by the end of 1998. Educational attainment reported on the death certificate for these persons was compared to their educational attainment reported in the CPS. NLMS was also used to calculate classification ratios consisting of the number of deaths by education level in the CPS compared to the number of deaths by education level on the death certificate. These classification ratios were then used to produce estimates of life expectancy by education level for the United States in 2005, adjusted for probable education misreporting on the death certificate.