Objectives. The Hispanic population in the United States represents more than 40 million individuals, with Mexican Americans (MA) as the largest subgroup. To assess the utility of death certificates and medical records as the source of race/ethnicity data for epidemiologic studies, we compared self-reported race/ ethnicity to race/ethnicity recorded on death certificates and medical records in a bi-ethnic, non-immigrant U.S. community with a significant MA population. Methods. This study utilized data collected from a subset of 1,856 participants of the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project. In-person interviews were conducted to determine self-reported race/ethnicity. Of those interviewed, 480 subsequently expired. Using self-reported race/ethnicity as the gold standard, we determined percent agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of the death certificate and medical record. Results. Of the 480 subjects, 259 self-reported their race/ethnicity as non-Hispanic white (NHW), 195 self-reported as MA, and 26 self-reported as non-Hispanic black. Median age was 78.5 years and 55.8% were female. Percent agreement between self-reported race/ethnicity and race/ethnicity recorded on the death certificate and medical record was 97.1% and 96.3% respectively. Five percent of MAs were misclassified as NHW on their death certificates and 3% on their medical records. Conclusions. Results indicated that Hispanic designation recorded on death certificates and medical records in this community was largely consistent with that of self-report. This study suggests that vital statistics data in non-immigrant U.S. Hispanic communities can be used with confidence to investigate ethnicspecific aspects of disease and mortality. Similar studies in other multi-racial communities should be conducted to confirm and generalize these results. ©2006 Association of Schools of Public Health.

[No Keywords available]

information processing statistical analysis Death Certificates death certificate methodology cerebrovascular accident brain hemorrhage Caucasian race difference Population Surveillance human community middle aged controlled study priority journal Aged subarachnoid hemorrhage ethnology African American interview United States Humans Hispanic Medical Records male female medical record transient ischemic attack sensitivity and specificity Article European Continental Ancestry Group Mexican Americans mortality Texas health survey