Certificates of Live Birth: an evaluation of the quality of information in two municipalities in the metropolitan region of João Pessoa, state of Paraíba, BrazilBackground Data on vital statistics stand out for their importance in supporting appropriate actions in various sectors; therefore, assessment of their quality is relevant.
Objective To describe the completeness and concordance of selected variables of the Certificates Live Birth (CLB) of hospitalized children in two municipalities of the metropolitan region of João Pessoa based on hospital records.
Method A descriptive study was carried out considering children under one year of age living in the municipalities of Cabedelo and Bayeux, born in 2013, hospitalized in the same year in public pediatric hospitals in the state of Paraíba. Based on data from hospital records, CLB were analyzed in relation to their completeness and agreement using the Kappa Coefficient (categorical variables) or the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (quantitative variables).
Results In the evaluation of the CLB, gestational age stood out for presenting very poor completeness and only reasonable agreement. The number of dead children was also rated with reasonable agreement. The problems in the quality of information on these variables prevent their use in epidemiological studies and as a support to public policies.
Conclusion The completeness and agreement of the analyzed variables showed good quality in the completion of the CLB, except for gestational age and number of dead children.
Keywords:
live births; information systems; vital statistics