Use of capture-recapture method to improve the notification of fatal occupational injuries records in Belo Horizonte city, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, 2011.

OBJECTIVE: to measure underreporting of typical fatal occupational injuries (FOI) on the Mortality Information System (SIM) in Belo Horizonte city, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in 2011.

METHODS: the capture-recapture method was used to assess all FOI recorded among city residents and/or occurring in the city, using probabilistic linkage of three data sources: SIM, the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) and the Belo Horizonte Forensic Medicine Institute Autopsy Database.

RESULTS: the majority of the 54 cases found occurred in males (n=53), with drivers and construction workers accounting for half of them (n=28); the most common causes of death were traffic accidents (n=18) and falls (n=10); 15 deaths were underreported on SIM.

CONCLUSION: the use of the capture-recapture method contributed to the detection of FOI underreporting.