Linked
Birth and Infant Death Data Set Public-Use Data Files
Description
of the data set
Data
file description
List
of data file variables at a glance
Data
file technical characteristics
Geographic
coverage
Data
availability
Ordering
information
Documentation
contents
Related
reports
Contact
Description
of the data set
In 1983, NCHS established a unique research data set comprised of linked
birth and death certificates for infants born in the United States who
died before reaching one year of age. In this data set, information
from the death certificate is linked with information from the birth
certificate for each infant. The purpose of this linkage is to use the
many additional variables available from the birth certificate in infant
mortality analysis. Analysis of this information can provide insight
into the major factors influencing infant mortality in the United States.
Data
file description
The Linked
Birth/Infant Death Data Set-1998 Period Data contains numerator and
denominator files for the U.S. These files are also available for Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. These and earlier data sets can
be used to calculate infant mortality rates by selected infant and
maternal characteristics. The numerator file contains
statistical data from linked birth and infant death records. The
denominator file is the NCHS natality file in a compressed format. For the
1998 data set, 98.4 percent of all infant deaths in the U.S. are linked to
their corresponding birth records. However, for a few infant death
records, no matching birth certificate could be found. An additional
file of infant death records, called the "unlinked file," is
also provided.
Beginning with 1989
data, the additional variables available from the 1989 Revision of the
U.S. Standard Certificates of Birth and Death were added.
List
of data file variables at a glance
Numerator file
Year of birth
Residence of mother:
State
County
(250,000 persons or more)
City
(250,000 persons or more)
Place of birth:
State
County
(250,000 persons or more)
Abnormal conditions of the newborn1
Age of:
Mother
(single years, ages 10-49)
Father
(single years, ages 10 and over)
Alcohol use1
Apgar score, 1 minute for 1983-91 and 5 minutes for 1983-91 and 1996-982
Attendant at birth
Birth weight (in grams)
Complications of labor/delivery1
Congenital anomalies1
Day of week of birth/death1
Education of mother (single years, 0-17) (father included 1983-91)2
Gestation period2
(single weeks, 17-47)
Hispanic origin of mother and father2
Interval since last live birth (1983-91)2
Live-birth order
Marital status3
Medical risk factors1
Method of delivery
Month of pregnancy prenatal care began
Month of year of birth/death1
Nativity of mother
Number of prenatal visits2
Place of delivery
Plurality
Race of:
Child
(nine categories 1983-91)
Mother
(10 categories--plus expanded
Asian
American and Pacific Islander
categories
for seven States starting in 1995)
Father
(10 categories)
Sex of child
Tobacco use1
Total birth order
Weight gain1
Year of death
Residence of decedent:
State
County
(250,000 persons or more)
City
(250,000 persons or more)
Year of death:
State
County
(250,000 persons or more)
Age at death
Hospital and status of decedent
Whether autopsy performed
Place of accident
Cause of death:4
Underlying
cause
Multiple
conditions
Denominator file
Year of birth
Residence of mother:
State
County
(250,000 persons or more)
City
(250,000 persons or more)
Place of birth:
State
County
(250,000 persons or more)
Abnormal conditions of the newborn1
Age of:
Mother
(single years, ages 10-49)
Father
(single years, ages 10 and over)
Alcohol use1
Apgar score, 1 minute for 1983-91 and 5 minutes for 1983-91 and 19952
Attendant at birth
Birth weight (in grams)
Complications of labor/delivery1
Congenital anomalies1
Day of week of birth/death1
Education of mother (single years, 0-17) (father included 1983-91)2
Gestation period1(single
weeks, 17-47)
Hispanic origin of mother and father2
Interval since last live birth (1983-91)2
Live-birth order
Marital status3
Medical risk factors1
Method of delivery
Month of pregnancy prenatal care began
Month of year of birth /death1
Nativity of mother
Number of prenatal visits2
Place of delivery
Plurality
Race of:
Child
(9 categories 1983-91)
Mother
(10 categories--plus expanded
Asian
American and Pacific Islander
categories
for seven States in 1995 and
eight
States in 1996)
Father
(10 categories)
Sex of child
Tobacco use1
Total birth order
Weight gain1
_____________________________________________________
1
Item available for 1989-91 birth cohorts only.
2 Applicable only for those States having
information on the certificate.
3Data for States without the item have been
inferred from other items on the certificate.
4 Causes of death were coded according to the
International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision.
Data
file technical characteristics
The following list describes the specific characteristics of each file for
each data year. The CD-ROM format comes with Statistical Export and
Tabulation System (SETS)
retrieval software.
Numerator file
Data
year |
Number
of records
|
1997 |
27,398
|
1996 |
27,809 |
1995 |
28,767 |
1991 |
35,520 |
1990 |
37,066 |
1989 |
38,605 |
1988 |
37,599 |
1987 |
37,349 |
1986 |
37,966 |
1985 |
39,170 |
1984 |
38,314 |
1983 |
39,704 |
Numerator file
for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam
Data
year |
Number
of records
|
1997 |
782 |
1996 |
713 |
1995 |
863 |
Unlinked
file
Data
year |
Number
of records
|
1997 |
599 |
1996 |
623 |
1995 |
750 |
Unlinked
file for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam
Data
year |
Number
of records
|
1997 |
4 |
1996 |
6 |
1995 |
11 |
Denominator
file
Data
year |
Number
of records
|
1997 |
3,884,329 |
1996 |
3,894,874 |
1995 |
3,903,012 |
1991 |
3,913,967 |
1990 |
4,045,881 |
1989 |
4,163,150 |
1988 |
4,115,494 |
1987 |
3,813,492 |
1986 |
3,760,997 |
1985 |
3,765,336 |
1984 |
3,364,090 |
1983 |
3,341,274 |
Denominator
file for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam
Data
year |
Number
of Records
|
1997 |
70,655 |
1996 |
69,519 |
1995 |
69,868 |
Geographic
coverage
Place of birth and place of death are classified by State and county.
In residence classification of the birth, all births are allocated to the
usual place of residence of the mother as reported on the birth
certificate and are classified by State, county, and city. In
residence classification of the death, all deaths are allocated to the
usual place of residence of the decedent as reported on the death
certificate and are classified by State, county, and city.
Counties of 250,000
persons or more and cities of 250,000 persons or more are classified in
the linked data set. Geographic classification for the linked data set is
based on the 1980 census enumeration.
Data
availability
Linked Birth and Infant Death Data are available for 1983-91 and 1995-97. Data
from the 1995-97 linked files are combined with data from the fetal death
file and are available on the Perinatal
Mortality Data File on CD-ROM. Public Use Data are
available for individual years from 1983-91 and 1995-98 on CD-ROM. Data
from the 1995-98 linked files are combined with data from the fetal death
file and are available on the Perinatal
Mortality Data File on CD-ROM.
Ordering
information
Linked Birth and Infant Death CD-ROM can be purchased through the National
Technical Information Service (NTIS)
and/or the Government Printing Office (GPO).
As prices vary, please
contact NTIS or GPO for current pricing.
See also Perinatal
Mortality Data File on
CD-ROM for data years 1995-98.
Documentation
contents
Documentation is available electronically on the CD-ROM, including content
and technical information needed to access the data. Control total tables
are also included.
1996
data file documentation
Related
reports
"The NCHS Pilot Project to Link Birth and Infant Death Records: Stage
1" by Kate Prager, Glenn A. Flinchum, and David P. Johnson, was
published in Public Health Reports 102:216 223, March-April 1987. Reports
that relate to the data are available in Vital and Health Statistics, Series
20, and Supplements
to the Monthly Vital Statistics Report.
Contact
Marian MacDorman, Ph.D.
Reproductive Statistics Branch
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Room 7417
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
(301) 458-4356
For additional
information check out the following links:
Linked
Birth and Infant Death Web Page
Birth
data Web Page
Mortality
data Web Page
Fetal
Death Data Web Page
This page last reviewed
March 16, 2009
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