MORTALITY PATTERNS IN KUWAIT - INFERENCES FROM DEATH CERTIFICATE DATA

Two main features of the mortality pattern in Kuwait are very low crud e death rates, not exceeding 2.3 per 1,000, and a high frequency of tr affic accidents, ranking as the second leading cause of death. In quan titative terms, mortality statistics in Kuwait have reached their obje ctives in that coverage approaches 100%. However, quality of data stil l suffers from apparent shortcomings, as exemplified by senility (with out mention of psychosis) as the sixth leading cause of death. Huge os cillations in the frequency of some conditions from one year to the ne xt one are even more indicative of the dubious reliability of the info rmation on the death certificate. These variations occur across the bo ard and do not characterize only a pre-war/post-war comparison. Coding inconsistencies are not restricted to the same group of diseases (e.g ., cardiovascular disorders) but appear to comprise shifts in coding b etween different groups of diseases (e.g., pneumonia and disorders rel ated to short gestation). Socially undesirable causes of death are, in particular, an area where reliability of data may be easily challenge d on logical grounds. If raw mortality data were taken for granted, th ey could be very misleading. Providing for a cautious interpretation, however, these data may still be fairly informative.