Finding and Using Health Statistics
Content
Vital Records
Vital records are collected by the National Vital Statistics System, and are maintained by state and local governments. Vital records include births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths. They also record information about the cause of death, or details of the birth.
Vital records are useful because they offer very detailed information and include information about rare disorders that end in death. Unfortunately, because there are so many state and local governments collecting this information, records can be inconsistent. Also, vital records only provide information on diseases and illnesses that end in death.
This graph shows the preterm birth rates for Non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, and Non-Hispanic black populations. This information comes from vital records.
Source: Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Ventura SJ, et al. Births: Final data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 61 no 1. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012. //www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf