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Using Historical Records to Reconstruct Early Life SES Exposures
in Decedents: Preliminary Findings from a Pilot Study
Kathryn Rose and J. Stephen Perhac
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Background
• Early life socioeconomic conditions associated with increased risk of chronic diseases in adulthood
• In most ongoing epidemiologic studies early life SES not ascertained at study inception– Collect from study participants while study is
ongoing – Obtain from historical records
• Linkage of death certificates with 1900-1920 individual census records (Hill, 2000; Preston,1996)– Elderly, white men: 70% linkage– Elderly black men: 56% linkage
• Study of link between childhood SES and Alzheimer’s disease (Moceri, 2001)– Attempted linkage with birth certificates and
declassified 1910-20 census records• 86% of participants linked to birth certificates and/or
census record• No significant variation by gender, age or education
Can Early Life SES Be Obtained From Historical Records?
Rationale for Current Pilot Study
• Feasibility of using public records to obtain early life SES information:– Accessibility– Cost ($$$ and time)– Availability of parental SES data
• Completeness• Comparability to data from other sources
• What are the sociodemographic determinants of successful linkage?
Participants
• Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study – Baseline examination 1987-89– Participants born between 1922 and 1944
• 451 participants from NC field center who subsequently died – Born between 1922-1935 (N=334)– Born in NC (N=319)
or
Search Strategy
Death Certificates SS-5s
Database for searching records
containing parental SES
NC Born
Request NC Birth Certificates
Born 1922-1935
Search 1930 Census
Attempting Linkage to Records with Parental SES Information
• Sources:– Death Certificates
• Available for > 99% of decedents
– Social Security application (SS-5) data• Obtained for 99% of decedents
• Information abstracted:– Mother and father’s names– Participant data:
• Name(s), date and place of birth, race, gender
Searching for NC Birth Certificates
Death Certificates SS-5s
Database for searching records
containing parental SES N=451
NC BornN=319
Request NC Birth Certificates
NC Birth Certificate Search
• 269 of 321 (84%) requested records found– Yield of usable records lower
• (N=253 - 79%)
– Yield:• Higher for whites than blacks (81% vs. 72%)• Higher for men than women (81% vs. 76%)• Did not not vary by education
– 95% contained parental occupational data
Searching for 1930 Census Records
Death Certificates SS-5s
Database for searching records
containing parental SES
Born 1922-1935
N=334
Search 1930 Census
Linkage with 1930 Census Records
• Accessed using a proprietary website with computerized index
• Criteria Used to determine match:– Place of birth match vs. census address– Match on both parents’ names – Match on race– If participant born at the time of census
• Did age and name match?
Linkage with 1930 Census Records
• 238 of 334 records (71%) found on initial searches– Yield:
• Higher for whites (74%) than blacks (57%) • Higher for men (73%) than women (68%)• Lower for those with less than HS education
(69%) than for those with 12+ years of education (72%)
• Highest between 1927 and 1931 (80% +)
Sociodemographic Information Available from 1930 Census Records
• Virtually complete and legible
• Socioeconomic information• Home ownership• Household size• Literacy of mother and father• Occupational data on parents
– Job title – Industry– Whether an owner or an employee– Current employment status
NC Born
N=319
Born 1922-1935
N=334
269 Birth Certificates
Obtained (84%)
238 Census Records Located
(74%)
Search on 382 decedent records
•9% not located
•91% birth certificate and / or census record
Summary: Data Linkage
NC BornN=319
Born 1922-1935
N=334
182 decedents searched
on both sources
•79% both birth certificate and census record
•19% census record only
•1% birth certificate only
•1% no birth certificate or census record
Strengths and Limitations: Birth Certificate Data
Strengths• Data collected
directly from parents at time participant was born
• Records archived by state
Limitations • Limited SES data• Variation in content
across time and place• Access rules vary by
state• During this time period
records not always filed at birth
• Costly
Strengths and Limitations: Census Data
Strengths• Data collected in a
standardized manner across U.S. by trained census takers
• Large amount of parental SES-related data
• Inexpensive• Every person is
indexed
Limitations • Records are hand-
written• Data abstraction is
tedious• Limited ability to
track those not born in close proximity to census
• Only declassified after 72 years
Next Steps
• Continued search of census records• Comparison of the parental occupational
data from different sources – Census vs. birth certificate
– 1920 vs. 1930 census
– Historical records vs. those reported by participants
Conclusions
• It is feasible to use birth certificates and early census records as a source of early life SES information– Accessible – Parental SES information is complete– Labor-intensive and potentially expensive
• Potential use in such data is missing due to loss to follow-up
Acknowledgements
• UNC at Chapel Hill Program on Demographics and Economics of Aging Research
• Dr. Gerardo Heiss• The ARIC Study• B. Renee Ferguson • Brigitt Heier