biostudies-literatureBailey MJNICHD NIH HHSNIA NIH HHS101474https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9912950biostudies-literatureUnknown87The demographic and epidemiological transitions of the past 200 years are well documented at an aggregate level. Understanding differences in individual and group risks for mortality during these transitions requires linkage between demographic data and detailed individual cause of death information. This paper describes the digitization of almost 185,000 causes of death for Ohio to supplement demographic information in the Longitudinal, Intergenerational Family Electronic Micro-database (LIFE-M). To extract causes of death, our methodology combines handwriting recognition, extensive data cleaning algorithms, and the semi-automated classification of causes of death into International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. Our procedures are adaptable to other collections of handwritten daExplorations in economic historyBreathing new life into death certificates: Extracting handwritten cause of death in the LIFE-M project.PMC9912950P2C HD041023R24 HD041028P2C HD041022R01 AG057704P2C HD041028R21 AG056912P30 AG012846Bailey MJRoberts EPrice JSpector LZhang MLeonard SHfalseBreathing new life into death certificates: Extracting handwritten cause of death in the LIFE-M project.The demographic and epidemiological transitions of the past 200 years are well documented at an aggregate level. Understanding differences in individual and group risks for mortality during these transitions requires linkage between demographic data and detailed individual cause of death information. This paper describes the digitization of almost 185,000 causes of death for Ohio to supplement demographic information in the Longitudinal, Intergenerational Family Electronic Micro-database (LIFE-M). To extract causes of death, our methodology combines handwriting recognition, extensive data cleaning algorithms, and the semi-automated classification of causes of death into International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. Our procedures are adaptable to other collections of handwritten da2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Jan2025-04-04T03:01:19.071Z2025-04-04T03:01:19.071ZS-EPMC99129503677851810.1016/j.eeh.2022.101474