Mortality due to injuries by place of occurrence in the European region: analysis of data quality in the WHO mortality database.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) has codes for the place of occurrence of external causes of mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of data available in the World Health Organization (WHO) mortality database on the place of occurrence of fatal injuries in the European region. METHODS: Data on external causes of mortality from countries in the European region according to the ICD-10 with four-character subdivision, between the years 1998 and 2003, were analysed. The quality of ICD-10 place of occurrence data was analysed for each country, based on the completeness, coverage and percentage of unspecified place of injury occurrence. RESULTS: Only three countries in the European region (Hungary, Iceland and Lithuania) had high quality of data on place of occurrence of injuries, and six had medium-quality data. CONCLUSIONS: Few countries in the European region have injury mortality data of adequate quality by place of occurrence.