CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY AMONG OLDER AFRICAN-AMERICANS - CORRELATES AND CONSEQUENCES OF AGE MISREPORTING

This paper examines the quality of age reporting on death certificates of elderly African-Americans by major causes of death. We utilize a s ample of death certificates linked to early census records and to Soci al Security Administration records to establish a ''true'' age at deat h. We then examine the patterns, predictors, and consequences of age m isreporting for major causes of death. We find a pattern of greater ag e misreporting among females, identify educational background as a key predictor of accurate age reporting, and show that mortality crossove rs are eliminated for most causes of death when more accurate age data are used.