Census Mortality Study - Health and Disability Intelligence

Health & Disability Intelligence
Census Mortality Study

The New Zealand Census Mortality Study (NZCMS) is a study of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and mortality in New Zealand, based on the probabilistic linkage of anonymised census records from Statistics New Zealand with mortality records from the New Zealand Health Information Service. The NZCMS is a joint project of the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences (University of Otago), Health & Disability Intelligence (Ministry of Health) and Statistics New Zealand. This ongoing record linkage process allows reliable comparison of mortality rates (all-cause and by-cause) for Mäori, Pacific and European/Other New Zealanders, which has in the past been problematic due to inaccurate recording of ethnicity on death registrations.

The main purpose of the NZCMS is, however, the ongoing analysis and monitoring of trends in socioeconomic mortality gradients. The study design is ideal for this in view of the rich socioeconomic data collected in the census. The NZCMS also allows analyses of trends in socioeconomic mortality gradients, as each cohort (followed up for three years after each census) is treated in exactly the same way.

Publications from the NZCMS are:
Decades of Disparity: Ethnic mortality trends in New Zealand 1980-1999
Decades of Disparity II: Socioeconomic mortality trends in New Zealand 1981-1999
Decades of Disparity III: Ethnic and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mortality, New Zealand 1981–1999

Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences - New Zealand Census Mortality Study