BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

ChapterI1. Collectionand Quality'of Basic'Data
31
search proved effective and relatively simpie,
though its use was essentially limited
to those projects in which all deaths were
included in the Investigation,
These measures for evaluating the completeness
of death registration are described
here because of their usefulness in achieving
vital statistics of higher quality and com-
parability. Methods of accurately recording
the outcome of each delivery must be established,
and births and dceaths processed in
both hospitals and registration offices in
accordance with accepted definitions. Even
for purposes of comparison of life expectancy
at birth, all infant deaths must be
registered.
The efforts made by the staff to obtain
results as complete as possible were extensive
and rewarding. The additional efforts
in 1971 and early 1972-even though they
delayed completion of the field work and
hence this report-were fully justified, providing
the most realistic presentation possible
of mortality in the neonatal as well as
the postneonatal and early childhood periods.
The solutions applied and recoi-
mended for implementation can find appli-
cation throughout the Americas and probably
in many other regions of the world.
In future research programs in which
infant mortality is to be studied, a method
of obtaining data on the outcome of each
pregnancy should be introduced in the planning
phase. In the research projects being
conducted by WHO in Africa, patterned in
part on the Inter-American Investigation
of Mortality in Childhood, interviews in
the homes are being scheduled at threemonth
intervals. Thus pregnancies and the
outcomes-live births and infant deaths­
as well as the total population in the households
can be recorded routinely. Many of
the difficulties encountered in the Investi­
gation will thus be overcome.
Studies on nutritional status of the
mother in relation to the product of pregnancy
can be greatly facilitated by instituting
methods for obtaining data on the
outcome of each pregnancy, including status
and condition at birth, birth weight, and
other basic p)arameters. Moreover, adinistrative
evaluations of a hospital's opera­
tions can be facilitated by reporting the
outcome of each pregnancy, whether fetal
death or live birth, and also the condition
and survival of those born alive. The standard
of 10 deaths per 1,000 live births,
used in this study, could be utilizedl in hospitals
for evaluating mortality in the first
day of life.
When measures are planned to assure
healthy products of reproduction and to
eliminate the hazards and complications of
nutritional deficiency and unfavorable envican
well be placed on
ronment, emphasis
quality of natality and mortality statistics.
REGISTRATION
OF DEATHS
pally to make the facts available to health
For the two years of the Investigation,
35,095 deaths of infants and other children authorities and educators in the health sciences
for their immediate use.
under 5 years of age were studied in the 15
The number of deaths in the 15 projects
projects. The most significant findings deon
those varied from 371 in Sherbrooke to 4,312 in
rived from analyses of the data
Sio Paulo and 4,276 in Bolivia (Table 2).
deaths are presented in this report princi-