Changes in Mortality Statistics Through the Use of the New International Statistical Classification

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Abstract
The introduction in 1949 of a radical revision of the Internat. List of Causes of Death and a change in procedure in selecting the underlying cause of death when 2 or more causes are reported on one death certificate makes impossible direct comparisons of 1949 and subsequent mortality rates with earlier ones. By classifying current deaths according to both the old and new methods, it becomes possible to study the apparent changes arising from the adoption of the new cause of death classification procedure. For the first 8 months of 1949, the New York City experience reveals that deaths ascribed to nephritis, diabetes and syphilis decreased tremendously merely because of the change. Contra-rily, deaths ascribed to rheumatic fever, influenza, cerebral vascular lesions and arteriosclerosis increased appreciably. Other conditions were affected to a lesser degree. Use of comparability ratios calculated from the 2 sets of figures makes the rates crudely comparable. Comparability ratios specific for age, sex, and race as well as cause for each geographic area are needed.

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