Live births, fetal deaths, and deaths are classified by place of residence within MSTAHRS. Certain tables in the Vital Statistics Bulletin show some occurrence data. Residence data is used in MSTAHRS because these data are considered more suitable for study of public health problems.
Residence data include transcripts of records of events that occurred in other states to Mississippi residents. Resident data exclude records filed in Mississippi for non-residents. Residence assignment for live births and fetal deaths is determined by the usual residence of the mother. Residence assignment for deaths is determined by the usual residence of the decedent except that deaths of inmates of institutions were reallocated to the location of the institution regardless of length of stay.
Residence assignment for induced termination of pregnancy is determined by the usual residence of the patient.
Marriages are classified according to place of issuance of the marriage license, place of occurrence of marriage, and place of residence of the bride. However, data on brides who were Mississippi residents are incomplete since there is no exchange among the states of transcripts of marriage records for nonresidents and the out-of-state marriages of Mississippi brides could not be included. Divorces are classified only according to place where the decree was granted, as there is no information regarding place of residence on the record.