This page is part of the Vital Records Mortality and Morbidity Reporting FHIR IG (v0.1.0: STU 1 Ballot 1) based on FHIR R3. The current version which supercedes this version is 2.0.0. For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions

Decedent Age

Decedent Age is a profile of the FHIR STU3 Observation resource. It is used to convey the decedent's chronological age at the time of death. When present, the effective date of this observation shall be equal to the decedent's date of death. Age (Observation.valueQuantity.value) is derived as the difference in time between the decedent's death date and birth date. When age is less than or equal to one day then unit shall be "minutes", when age is less than or equal to one year then unit shall be "days", otherwise unit shall be "years".


UML Expression


Structure Definition

status 1..1 codeFixed Value
code 1..1 CodeableConceptFixed Value
subject 1..1 Reference(VRDR Decedent)
effective[x] 0..1
effectiveDateTime
value[x] 1..1
value 1..1
unit 1..1 Binding

Element Bindings

Element Name Binding Type Binding Value Fixed Value Code System
code Fixed Value "30525-0" LOINC
status Fixed Value "final" observation-status
subject Reference VRDR Decedent
valueQuantity.unit Value Set AgeUnitOfMeasure

Element Table

Observation ..
Observation.status code 1..1
Observation.code CodeableConcept 1..1
Observation.subject Reference(VRDR Decedent) 1..1
Observation.effective[x] 0..1
Observation.effectiveDateTime:effectiveDateTime ..
Observation.value[x] 1..1
Observation.valueQuantity:valueQuantity ..
Observation.valueQuantity:valueQuantity.value 1..1
Observation.valueQuantity:valueQuantity.unit 1..1


Requirements Traceability Mappings

Element Path Reference Location Data Item
valueQuantity.value Vital Records DAM 3.02 Decedent deathAge
valueQuantity.value Death Certificate Item 4 Age [years, days, or minutes]
valueQuantity.value Standard Death Record IG SDR Decedent Profile Patient.extension:age

Instance Example

<Observation>
  <id value="example-decedent-age" />
  <meta>
    <profile value="http://www.hl7.org/fhir/us/vrdr/decedentAge" />
  </meta>
  <status value="final" />
  <code>
    <coding>
      <system value="urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.6.1" />
      <code value="30525-0" />
      <display value="AGE" />
    </coding>
  </code>
  <subject>
    <reference value="example-decedent" />
  </subject>
  <valueQuantity>
    <value value="70" />
    <unit value="a" />
  </valueQuantity>
</Observation>