Annual Summary of Vital Statistics—1988

Abstract

Data for this article, as in previous reports, are drawn principally from Monthly Vital Statistics Report, published by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). US data for 1988 come from the NCHS annual summary and are estimates by place of occurrence, based upon a count of all certificates received in state offices between two dates, 1 month apart, regardless of when the event occurred. Mortality data by cause and age, however, come from the Current Mortality Sample, a systematic 10% sample of those certificates. For the United States as a whole, the estimates, with few exceptions, have proved to be close to the subsequent final figures. There are considerable variations in some states, however, because provisional figures are by place of occurrence. Advance final reports for births, deaths (including infant deaths), marriages, and divorces provide more detail on items like age, sex, race, education, and certain indices of health care. These reports are by place of residence for births and deaths but marriages and divorces are by place of occurrence. Careful attention should be paid to differing denominators in text and tables. For overall rates, like the birth rate or death rate, the standard denominator is 1000 total population. In instances in which more refined analysis is possible, other denominators are used, such as 100 000 for cause of death data. The particular denominator is indicated in each table. The international data come from the annual Demographic Yearbook and the quarterly Population and Vital Statistics Report, both published by the Statistical Office of the United Nations, which has also been kind enough to provide directly more recent data reported by various countries.