Do Inferences about Mortality Rates and Disparities Vary by Source of Mortality Information?

Purpose: Researchers who study mortality among survey participants have multiple options for obtaining information about which participants died (and when and how they died). Some use public record and commercial databases; others use the National Death Index; some use the Social Security Death Master File; and still others combine sources and use Internet searches and genealogic methods. We ask how inferences about mortality rates and disparities depend on the choice of source of mortality information. Methods: Using data on a large, nationally-representative cohort of people who were first interviewed as high school sophomores in 1980 and for whom we have extensive identifying information, we describe mortality rates and disparities through about age 50 using four separate sources of mortality data. We rely on cross-tabular and multivariate logistic regression models. Results: These sources of mortality information often disagree about which of our panelists died by about age 50, and also about overall mortality rates. However, mortality disparities (i.e., by sex, race/ethnicity, education) are similar across of sources of mortality data. Conclusion: Researchers’ choice of method for obtaining mortality information affects estimates of mortality rates but has little bearing on estimates of differential mortality by sex, race/ethnicity, or education.