Comparability of ICD-10 and ICD-9 for Mortality Statistics in Canada - ARCHIVED

This report describes the design, methodology, and results of the first study undertaken by Statistics Canada to measure the impact on Canadian cause of death trends of a new revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

Using 1999 Canadian mortality data, Statistics Canada carried out a comparability, or "bridge-coding", study by dual-coding deaths to both the Ninth and Tenth Revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9 and ICD-10). The preliminary results of this exercise were used to generate comparability ratios; these ratios measure the net effect of the new revision, with ratios above 1.00 indicating a net increase in deaths classified to a cause of death, and ratios below 1.00 indicating a net decrease.

The comparability ratios derived from dual-coding medical certificates of cause of death presented in this report estimate the size and direction of the disruption to cause of death trends due to the implementation of ICD-10. Researchers and analysts using Canadian mortality data should use these summary measures to calculate comparability-modified death counts and mortality rates to bridge the gap between ICD-9 and ICD-10.

This publication has been discontinued since June 2016. This was a one-time release.