Ontario Live Birth Database - Data Sources
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Ontario Live Birth
Database - Data Sources
Data Source
Live birth data are collected under the Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990. Two forms are completed:
Form 1 is completed by the physician or nurse who attended the birth, while Form 2 is completed by the parents.The data from both forms are merged together to create a statistical database in the Office of Registrar General. The database is updated annually and sent to Stats Can for editing. The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit receives the data for their residents from the Public Health Branch of the Ministry of Health through its Health Planning System (HELPS) initiative.
Data Limitations
Place of residence of the mother -- Accurate Geographic coding of live births appears to be problematic. The Central East Health Information Partnerships (CEHIP) compared vital stats residence information to the same information contained in the hospital separation data file. The two data sources varied considerably. All available data (years 1981 to 1995) is presented in the report. The 1995 data has recently undergone corrections for geographic coding errors and birth weight errors. There is generally a two year lag period before future databases are available.
Birth Weight -- in 1997, a problem with livebirth data for 1993 to 1995 was identified by the Ministry of Health. Birth weights were truncated in some cases, from two digits to one digit (eg., 5 pounds 14 ounces became 5 pounds 1 ounce), leading to an artifactual increase of low birth weight rates. The files have been corrected and are contained in this report.
Gestational Age -- in November 1998, the Ontario Ministry of Health notified all health units that the data for 1991 to 1995 contained errors in gestational age and therefore recommended it not be used. The Registrar General's office has identified the source of the problem and will be investigating and correcting questionable values.
Due to legal reporting requirements, registration of live births is considered to be virtually complete. However, records of birth notifications received after the "cut-off date" are not included.
Information on live births is collected by the Office of the Registrar General using the birth registration form completed by parents.
Because live birth registration is required by law, data are thought to be complete. Because the parent registration form is used, data may be subject to some recall bias. Data should be analyzed by the residence of the mother, not by where the birth occurred.
Out-of-province births occurring to Ontario mothers were included in HELPS from 1981 to 1992 but have been excluded since 1993. This particularly affects areas bordering Quebec and Manitoba. For consistent comparisons over time, exclude the out-of-province births for both local and provincial analysis.
In 1995 only, live births occurring in Ontario to out-of-province mothers were included in the HELPS database. These should be excluded from analysis.
Births to out-of-province mothers are included in the Provincial Health Planning Database (PHPD) total counts. Exclude these births from analysis if using these data instead of HELPS. Births occurring outside of the province to Ontario mothers are excluded in the PHPD.
Stillbirths are included in a separate database in HELPS, but are combined with live births in the PHPD.
Rates and proportions based on counts less than 5 must be suppressed.
Reference: Ontario Live Birth Database, HELPS, Ontario Ministry of Health,1999.