The New Baltimore City Health Statistics DatabaseBy Nonye MaduSummer Epidemiology InternshipSeptember 2, 2014

Purpose of the new database

• The new database was created to not only streamline data entry, but also to increase the utility of the data that exists in the database for reporting purposes.• The old database, while functional for data

entry, was not suitable for generating reports due to shortcomings in the design.

Old Database

New Database

New Database

Changes in the new database

Changes in the new database• Field types were changed to more accurately reflect the type

of data being entered. This process involved extensive data cleaning.

Old Database New Database

The ages, sex codes, and race codes were converted to numeric values, and the date of death text field was converted to a date field. New SexValue and RaceValue fields were added to display the decoded sex and race values, respectively. These values are generated upon making a sex or race selection and are not visible on the data entry form.

Changes in the new database• Links to data entry forms for data before 2010 were consolidated on

the Main Menu screen by decade. The Main Menu in the previous database was constructed using the Switchboard function, which only allows for 8 options per screen, thus leading to the use of arbitrary time intervals for each screen.

Old Selection Screen for 1998-2004 New Selection Screen for 1991-1999

Changes in the new database• All of the tables with data from 2010 (the oldest year for which

paper records are available) onwards were combined into one table to allow for more efficient aggregate queries to be generated. All future data will also be entered in this new table.

New Combined Table

Old Tables Separated by Year

Changes in the new database• The data entry forms were updated to more accurately reflect

data contained on Maryland death certificates.Old Form

Changes in the new databaseNew Form

New fields specifying the manner of death, the lethal agent in the case of an overdose, and the zip code where the death occurred were added. The census tract code year was changed from 1990 to 2010 to reflect the most recent census year. The race categories were also changed to reflect the options typically recognized on Maryland state death certificates. In addition, the age unit field was edited so that individuals over 100 are not counted separately.

New Reports

New Reports

• Several reports were added should the data entry specialist be interested in discerning particular trends within the mortality data. Due to potentially differing quality control measures, these numbers are unofficial and may not exactly match figures generated by the Department epidemiologists, though they should be relatively similar. Reports can be generated for any date range from January 1, 2010.

New Reports• Listing Reports: basic listing of all deaths in a specified date range.

Listing reports can be restricted by race, gender, or manner of death.

New ReportsSample of a listing report showing all deaths ruled as accidents during the specified date range (certificate numbers omitted for privacy).

New Reports• Count Reports:

aggregate mortality statistics reports that can be grouped by race, age, or gender. Also included is a report that lists the top ten causes of death and a report showing the number of overdose deaths by zip code.

New ReportsSample of a count report showing the total number of deaths and leading causes of death by race during the specified date range.

New ReportsSample of an overdose report showing the number of overdose deaths by the zip code where the death occurred.

New ReportsSample of a report showing the top ten causes of death during the specified date range.

New Reports

• The specific cause of death for each individual is generated by a query linking the ICD-10 code specified in the mortality data table with another table containing decoded ICD-10 values. All of the codes are not represented, but codes were selected in a way as to capture the vast majority of mortality causes. If needed, the table with the decoded ICD-10 values can be used to generate reports about any cause of interest.

New ReportsExample cells from the “Death Codes” table with decoded ICD-10 values. This table was created in Microsoft Excel and imported into Microsoft Access.

New ReportsThe following query was used to link the ICD-10 code in the mortality data table with the ICD-10 code in the imported table with decoded values:

SELECT tbl_ALLDeathsSince2010.*, [tbl_ICD].SpecCauseFROM tbl_ALLDeathsSince2010LEFT JOIN tbl_ICD ON tbl_ALLDeathsSince2010.CAUSE Like [tbl_ICD].ICDCode & '*';

tbl_ALLDeathsSince2010 is the table with the mortality data and tbl_ICD is the table imported from Excel containing the decoded ICD-10 values. The code is written so that all derivatives of the specified ICD-10 codes are captured (for example, both C153 and C505 are classified as malignant neoplasms in the query results despite malignant neoplasms only being denoted as the letter “C” in tbl_ICD). This query is saved under the name qryICDecode, and is referenced by most of the count reports.

New Reports

• In addition to being printable, all of the reports can be exported from Microsoft Access to Microsoft Excel, allowing for use in other applications such as SAS and ArcGIS.

With this new database, hopefully all interested parties can gain new insight about mortality in Baltimore City.

Thank you for your attention and best wishes going forward!

Nonye Madu2015 MPH Candidate

Drexel University School of Public Healthcrm99@drexel.edu