{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T10:15:24Z","timestamp":1790072124340,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]],"date-time":"2019-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1576713600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Scand J Public Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: While the system of registration of mortality and cause of death (COD) in Greenland was established several decades ago, reporting procedures follow a complicated administrative process. Timely and reliable reporting on mortality and COD is of high importance for the usability of the collected data for research, health planning and decision making. Methods: COD data collected by the Chief Medical Office in Greenland from 2006 to 2015 (4490 registered deaths) were analysed with the software Analysis of National Causes of Death for Action (ANACONDA) v4.0. Unusable or insufficiently specified ICD codes are identified. The Vital Statistics Performance Index for Quality (VSPI(Q)) is estimated for the overall quality conclusions of the register\u2019s usability. Results: Sixty-eight per cent of the input data for Greenland was coded with a usable underlying COD, 24% with an unusable cause and 8% of deaths with an insufficiently specified cause. Almost 700 deaths were coded to an unusable code of \u2018very high impact\u2019. The most prevalent unusable underlying causes were other ill-defined and unspecified causes, including no death certificate available, followed by senility, heart failure, sepsis and shock and cardiac arrest. The VSPI(Q) score was 66%, representing medium quality. Conclusions: In the 10 years\u2019 worth of data analysed, the true underlying COD in many cases was unknown. Several likely explanations for this include lack of systematic COD training for physicians, logistic and capacity challenges in Greenland that potentially could reduce the quality of the collected data and its usability in providing essential information about the true pattern of mortality in Greenland.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1403494819890990","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,20]],"date-time":"2019-12-20T01:13:35Z","timestamp":1576804415000},"page":"801-808","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Assessment of the quality of cause-of-death data in Greenland, 2006\u20132015"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"48","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8464-3668","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kim Moesgaard","family":"Iburg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lene","family":"Mikkelsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4507-5498","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicola","family":"Richards","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Statistics Greenland. Greenland in Figures 2018, www.stat.gl\/publ\/en\/GF\/2018\/pdf\/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202018.pdf (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr2-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Statistics Greenland. Population \u2013 2016. Towns and settlements, www.stat.gl\/dialog\/main.asp?lang=en&version=201603&sc=SA&subthemecode=o4&colcode=o (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr3-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Statistics Greenland. Population 2016. Mortality, www.stat.gl\/dialog\/main.asp?lang=en&version=201603&sc=SA&subthemecode=o6&colcode=o (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr4-1403494819890990","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14034940210134068"},{"key":"bibr5-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Death certificates for use in Greenland (in Danish: D\u00f8dsattest til brug i Gr\u00f8nland). 1 January 2018, https:\/\/www.nun.gl\/Emner\/Sundhedsprofessionelle\/Groenlands%20Sundhedslovgivning?sc_lang=da (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr6-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Law on death certification (in Danish: Anordning nr. 533 af 6. september 1988 om ikrafttr\u00e6den for Gr\u00f8nland af lov om ligsyn m.v.), https:\/\/www.nun.gl\/Emner\/Sundhedsprofessionelle\/Groenlands%20Sundhedslovgivning?sc_lang=da (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr7-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Chief Medical Office brief on death certification and issue of death certificates etc. (in Danish: Landsl\u00e6gens Cirkul\u00e6re nr. 18 af 21. december 1988 om ligsyn og udstedelse af d\u00f8dsattester mv.), https:\/\/www.nun.gl\/Emner\/Sundhedsprofessionelle\/Groenlands%20Sundhedslovgivning?sc_lang=da (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr8-1403494819890990","unstructured":"The legal roles of regional physicians and cooperation with the police (in Danish: Regionsl\u00e6gers retslige opgaver og samarbejde med politiet). Memorandum, Chief Medical Office, Government of Greenland, 21 December 2017, https:\/\/www.nun.gl\/Emner\/Sundhedsprofessionelle\/Doedsattest%20til%20brug%20i%20Groenland?sc_lang=da (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr9-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Statement of law regarding work-related accident insurance in Greenland (in Danish: Bekendtg\u00f8relse af lov nr. 75 af 17. januar 2017 om arbejdsskadesikring i Gr\u00f8nland), https:\/\/www.retsinformation.dk\/eli\/lta\/2017\/75 (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr10-1403494819890990","volume":"83","author":"Mathers CD","year":"2005","journal-title":"Bull World Health Organ"},{"key":"bibr11-1403494819890990","volume-title":"Guidance for assessing and interpreting the quality of mortality data using ANACONDA. CRVS resources and tools","author":"Mikkelsen L","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr12-1403494819890990","volume-title":"The Global Burden of Disease. A comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020","author":"Murray CJL","year":"1996"},{"key":"bibr13-1403494819890990","unstructured":"Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global burden of disease cause list 2015, www.healthdata.org\/sites\/default\/files\/files\/Projects\/GBD\/GBDcause_list.pdf (accessed 31 August 2018)."},{"key":"bibr14-1403494819890990","volume-title":"Redefining \u2018garbage codes\u2019 for public health policy: Report on the expert group meeting, 27\u201328 February 2017","author":"Mikkelsen L","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr15-1403494819890990","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0197047"},{"key":"bibr16-1403494819890990","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(15)60171-4"},{"key":"bibr17-1403494819890990","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1478-7954-12-14"}],"container-title":["Scandinavian Journal of Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1403494819890990","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1403494819890990","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1403494819890990","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T04:15:22Z","timestamp":1777695322000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1403494819890990"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,12]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1403494819890990"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1403494819890990","relation":{},"ISSN":["1403-4948","1651-1905"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1403-4948","type":"print"},{"value":"1651-1905","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,19]]}}}