Abstract:Death rates due to Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) are widely used to assess regional and national cardiovascular health status. However, their validity is questionable, essentially because they are based on death certificates (DCs). The present study was conducted in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Barquisimeto (Lara State, Venezuela), from June 1991 to July 1992. The purpose was to establish the validity of the diagnosis of myocardial infarction in DCs of intrahospital deaths. Efforts were made to locate all c… Show more
“…A study in Venezuela, for example, found that about one-third of the death certificates listing myocardial infarction as a cause of death were in error according to WHO MONICA case definitions 48. Because questionnaires are so important in collecting health information, a catalogue of biases in questionnaires is now available 49…”
Building a basis for action using the seven themes articulated, especially by incorporating innovative ideas, we presented here, can help enhance global capacity in chronic disease surveillance, prevention and control. Informed initiatives can help achieve the new World Health Organization global goal of reducing chronic disease death rates by 2% annually, generate new ideas for effective interventions and ultimately bring global chronic diseases under greater control.
“…A study in Venezuela, for example, found that about one-third of the death certificates listing myocardial infarction as a cause of death were in error according to WHO MONICA case definitions 48. Because questionnaires are so important in collecting health information, a catalogue of biases in questionnaires is now available 49…”
Building a basis for action using the seven themes articulated, especially by incorporating innovative ideas, we presented here, can help enhance global capacity in chronic disease surveillance, prevention and control. Informed initiatives can help achieve the new World Health Organization global goal of reducing chronic disease death rates by 2% annually, generate new ideas for effective interventions and ultimately bring global chronic diseases under greater control.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the reliability of hospital data on cause of death and encourage periodic reviews of these data using a standard method.MethodsWe searched Google Scholar, Pubmed and Biblioteca Virtual de la Salud for articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese that reported validation studies of data on cause of death. We analysed the results of 199 studies that had used medical record reviews to validate the cause of death reported on death certificates or by the vital registration system.FindingsThe screened studies had been published between 1983 and 2013 and their results had been reported in English (n = 124), Portuguese (n = 25) or Spanish (n = 50). Only 29 of the studies met our inclusion criteria. Of these, 13 had examined cause of death patterns at the population level – with a view to correcting cause-specific mortality fractions – while the other 16 had been undertaken to identify discrepancies in the diagnosis for specific diseases before and after medical record review. Most of the selected studies reported substantial misdiagnosis of causes of death in hospitals. There was wide variation in study methodologies. Many studies did not describe the methods used in sufficient detail to be able to assess the reproducibility or comparability of their results.ConclusionThe assumption that causes of death are being accurately reported in hospitals is unfounded. To improve the reliability and usefulness of reported causes of death, national governments should do periodic medical record reviews to validate the quality of their hospital cause of death data, using a standard.
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