Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30804035›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2019

Obscuring effect of coding developmental disability as the underlying cause of death on mortality trends for adults with developmental disability: a cross-sectional study using US Mortality Data from 2012 to 2016.

Scott D Landes, James Dalton Stevens, Margaret A Turk

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
5.3field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Down syndrome in Africa: Challenges, opportunities, and future directions.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
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  12. Article
  13. Cause of death in adults with intellectual disability in the United States.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2021
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. People With Disabilities in COVID-19: Fixing Our Priorities.The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2020
    Article
  20. Further understanding the connection between Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2020
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Scott D LandesDepartment of Sociology and Aging Studies Institute, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA.
James Dalton StevensDepartment of Sociology and Aging Studies Institute, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA.
Margaret A TurkDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, USA.
Syracuse University · USSUNY Upstate Medical University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine whether coding a developmental disability as the underlying cause of death obscures mortality trends of adults with developmental disability.

designNational Vital Statistics System 2012-2016 US Multiple Cause-of-Death Mortality files.

settingUSA.

participantsAdults with a developmental disability indicated on their death certificate aged 18 through 103 at the time of death. The study population included 33 154 adults who died between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016. PRIMARY OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Decedents with a developmental disability coded as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate were identified using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision code for intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or other developmental disability. Death certificates that coded a developmental disability as the underlying cause of death were revised using a sequential underlying cause of death revision process.

resultsThere were 33 154 decedents with developmental disability: 7901 with intellectual disability, 11 895 with cerebral palsy, 9114 with Down syndrome, 2479 with other developmental disabilities and 1765 with multiple developmental disabilities. Among all decedents, 48.5% had a developmental disability coded as the underlying cause of death, obscuring higher rates of choking deaths among all decedents and dementia and Alzheimer's disease among decedents with Down syndrome.

conclusionDeath certificates that recorded the developmental disability in Part I of the death certificate were more likely to code disability as the underlying cause of death. While revising these death certificates provides a short-term corrective to mortality trends for this population, the severity and extent of this problem warrants a long-term change involving more precise instructions to record developmental disabilities only in Part II of the death certificate.

Indexed as

Death CertificatesInternational Classification of DiseasesAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCause of DeathComorbidityCross-Sectional StudiesDevelopmental DisabilitiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedUnited StatesYoung Adultdevelopmental disabilitymortality trendsunderlying cause of death

Identifiers

PMID30804035
PMCPMC6443053
OpenAlexW2917025348

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.