OBJECTIVE: To investigate the completeness of data from the Mortality Information System on deaths by suicide in the elderly in the state of Bahia in the period from 1996 to 2010. METHODS: Epidemiological study with ecological design, based on data of elderly deaths by suicide in the state of Bahia, available on the Mortality Information System, for the period from 1996 to 2010, and it has been calculated the incompleteness of variables related to deaths and analyzed by a score. A time trend analysis was made with the incompleteness data through the polynomial regression models estimation, using the SPSS 15.0 software, with a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: It has been recorded in the period a total of 625 cases of suicide among elderly. The non-completion rates varied according to the variable and year, highlighting the race/color, education, information source and health care as those with the highest rates of non-completion. There was a decreasing trend for data incompleteness about the level of education, race/ethnicity, source of information and conducting autopsies to confirm the cause of death. For the other variables there were not found statistically significant values in the tested models. CONCLUSION: It was noticed an improvement in the completeness of data on elderly suicides in Bahia, with decreasing or not statistically significant trends being observed.
Elderly; suicide; death certificates; information systems
