Louisiana death certificate accuracy: a concern for the public's health.

INTRODUCTION The accuracy of death certificates is essential for public health prevention and research in the State of Louisiana. This article analyzes the accuracy of cause of death stated on Louisiana death certificates. METHODS Discharge diagnoses from 2007 Louisiana Hospital Inpatient Discharge Diagnosis (LAHIDD) data were compared with the diagnoses in the cause of death section in the corresponding death certificates. RESULTS Of the immediate causes of death, only 40.5% were considered an exact match and 17.4% did not have any type of match in the LAHIDD discharge diagnoses. For the preceding causes of death 54.0% of death certificates had no exact matches. There were only 55 (8.8%) of death certificates with no missing diagnosis. CONCLUSION There are significant inconsistencies between the discharge diagnosis upon death and cause of death. This raises concern for public health and education is needed for physicians to improve accuracy of death certificates.