Evaluation of cause-of-death statistics for Brazil, 2002–2004

Background Mortality statistics systems with reliable cause-of-death data con-stitute a major resource for effective health planning; however, many developing countries lack such information systems. Brazil has a long history of registering deaths, and a critical assessment of the quality of current cause-of-death statistics in its five different regions is crucial to identify strengths and weaknesses in the data, and present options for improvement. Methods Quality of cause-of-death data from 2002 to 2004 was evaluated using an assessment framework based on four main attributes: general-izability, reliability, validity and policy relevance. A set of nine criteria: coverage, completeness, consistency of cause patterns with general mortality levels, consistency of cause specific mortality proportions over time, content validity, proportion of ill-defined causes and non-specific codes, incorrect or improbable age or sex patterns, timeliness, and geographical disaggregation were used to assess the fou