State Differences in the Reporting of Diabetes-Related Incorrect Cause-of-Death Causal Sequences on Death Certificates

OBJECTIVE: To examine state differences in the reporting of diabetes-related incorrect cause-of-death (COD) causal sequences on death certificates in the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study to determine the prevalence of two types of incorrect COD causal sequences with data from the Multiple Cause Mortality File of the year 2004. RESULTS: Among deaths in which diabetes was reported as the first diagnosis on line a, b, c, or d in Part I of the death certificate in the U.S., 21% had below diabetes placement error (ranged from 30% in Maryland to 7% in Hawaii) and 11% had above diabetes placement error (ranged from 18% in Kentucky to 5% in California). The net effects of the two types of error ranged from −0.7% in Nevada to 19.6% in the District of Columbia. CONCLUSIONS: Because the rates of incorrect reporting of diabetes-related COD causal sequence varied across states, the comparability of the diabetes death rate between states may have been compromised.