Occupation recorded on certificates of death compared with self-report: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Table 1 Percentage agreement and chance-adjusted kappa coefficient (95% confidence interval, CI) between self-reported occupational category* and death certificate records by census-based categories

	Percent Agreement (%)	Kappa Coefficient	95% C.I.
Census-based Categories
Managerial/Professional (N^§ = 65)	86	0.59	0.54–0.64
Technical/Sales/Administrative (N^§ = 53)	85	0.53	0.48–0.58
Service (N^§ = 27)	94	0.64	0.60–0.69
Farming/Forestry/Fishing^† (N^§ = 0)	98	_^†	_^†
Precision/Production & Craft/Repair (N^§ = 47)	89	0.60	0.56–0.65
Operators/Fabricators/Laborers (N^§ = 52)	89	0.62	0.57–0.67
Homemakers (N^§ = 43)	92	0.68	0.64–0.73

* Grouped in categories following the 1980 Bureau of Census categories: Managerial and professional specialty; Technical, sales, and administrative support; Service; Farming, forestry and fishing; Precision production, craft, and repair; Operators, fabricators, and laborers; Homemakers.
^§ N indicates the number of participants that had the same category on both sources.
^† Only five farming/forestry/fishing were self-reported and only three were recorded on death certificates (none one recorded on both sources).

ISSN: 1471-2458