Assessment of Mortality
death, Death
EVENTS, DISEASE
Mortality events were identified during routine follow-up by a review of health records when participants could not be contacted or when the next of kin or a close contact notified the trial center. In Australia, the trial staff performed weekly linkage with the Ryerson Index, a community-maintained register that monitors death notices and obituaries. The names of all Australian and US participants who had withdrawn or were lost to follow-up were linked to the National Death Index. Cause of death was established by an adjudication panel determining the single disease that was most likely to have initiated the trajectory toward death. Where relevant records could not be obtained, the underlying cause of death was based on 