ACCURACY OF FATAL MOTORCYCLE-INJURY REPORTING ON DEATH CERTIFICATES

This study identifies differences in motorcycle injury fatality statis tics gathered from different sources. Police Accidents Reports (PARs), identifying fatal motorcycle injuries occurring in Connecticut during 1987 were matched with state death certificates. Matched death certif icates were analyzed in three major areas: content, coding, and motorc ycle fatality reporting. Death certificates underreported motorcycle f atalities by 38% compared to PARs. Forty percent of death certificates were missing some or all of the required information: 7 did not inclu de the word motorcycle, 18 did not contain acceptable ICD-9 terminolog y for a motorcyclist, and 17 did not describe how the injury occurred. Forty-one percent of death certificates contained external cause of i njury code (E-code) errors. Incomplete information on death certificat es was responsible for 52% of inaccurate reporting and E-code errors f or 48%. The accuracy of fatal motorcycle injury cause of death reporti ng on death certificates could be improved by better physician trainin g and rapid implementation of both the computerized death certificate coding systems and upcoming ICD-10 classification system.