South Carolina Vital Records
Individual-level vital records from birth and dealth certificates in South Carolina (SC). Includes demographic information, characteristics of mother's health and prenatal care, and cause of death.
Birth certificate data from births to SC residents, death certificate data for deaths of SC residents
Access
Individual-level South Carolina (SC) vital records are available to researchers upon request. To initiate a request, researchers must contact Jun Tang of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), Division of Vital Statistics ([email protected]) to obtain a data sharing application which requests the team’s contact information, the scope of the project, and the specific variables requested. If the request is approved, the Division of Vital Statistics will draft a Data Release Agreement, based on information provided in the application, to be signed by the research team.
Timeline for Access
Applications are reviewed and processed within 4-6 weeks. Data files are provided between 2 to 4 weeks of approval.
Lag Time
Linked vital records data is updated monthly. However, final calendar year data are available for request approximately 6-8 months after the end of the calendar year of interest. For vital records linkages, researchers may request provisional, current-year data.
Cost
The Division of Vital Records may charge a fee for data access, which depends upon the size of the request and the research team’s resources.
If requesting linkage with data sources outside housed outside of the agency, the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs office (RFA, the agency which houses multiple state data sources) charges for the release of data based on a cost recovery basis (i.e., to cover the cost of staff time). That cost is approximately $1.25 per 1,000 records.
Linking
SC Vital Statistics does not release identifiable vital statistics data but will conduct matches for approved projects. Vital Statistics will return a de-identified, matched data set to researchers.
For linking purposes, Vital Statistics requires that data sets include name and date of birth. In addition to these identifiers, Vital Statistics will link on Social Security number when possible.
Identifiers Available for Linking
- First and last name
- Date of birth
- Individual's Social Security Number (for non-birth records)
- Parents’ Social Security Number (for birth records)
Linking to Outside Data Sources
South Carolina Vital Statistics data are available for linking with outside data sources through the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs office (RFA). RFA maintains an integrated data system, including information about clients’ use of programs and services of various state, private, and non-profit entities. The system enables researchers to analyze the use of services and client crossover among these entities. This includes data on legal and safety services, social services, behavioral health, child care, education, disease registries, Medicare, Medicaid, state employee health services, free clinics, community centers, and homelessness. Data set quality varies across agencies.
While RFA maintains these data and is able to link these data sets, each originating agency maintains control of its own data and dictates how they may be released. Researchers who are interested in linking vital records to other data sets must first request permission from the Division of Vital Records. In order to link vital records data to the other RFA data sets, separate data use agreements with RFA and the other agencies, as well as approval from the South Carolina Data Oversight Council and IRB is often required.
If approved, the researcher must submit to RFA a key file containing study participants’ identifying information (which can include full name, date of birth, and Social Security number), and RFA will conduct a probabilistic match to link other data sets, after which researchers will receive de-identified, linked data. (Researchers may include a non-identifying “study ID” in the key file and request that RFA include the “study ID” in the data file.)
Data Contents
South Carolina vital records are organized into several data sets, including birth records, death records, and pregnancy records. The data are available in aggregate form on the South Carolina Community Assessment Network (SCAN) site. The site also contains information on available variables and definitions: Birth Certificate, Death Certificate (1990-1998, 1999-present), Infant Mortality, Pregnancy.
Partial List of Variables
Birth: Mother’s demographic and health information (including number of prenatal visits and pregnancy risk factors), birth information (e.g., gestational age, type of birth, circumstances of birth).
Death: Demographic information, cause(s) of death, comparability of causes of death, circumstances of death (e.g., fetal death, infant death, maternal death, etc.).
J-PAL Randomized Evaluations Using this Data Set
None yet available.
Other Research Using this Data Set
South Carolina Vital Records Publications and Reports: 1997-2019
Other Documentation
The Circle of Love: South Carolina’s Integrated Data System (note: Effective July 1, 2014, the Office of Research and Statistics became part of an independent agency operating as the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.)