Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
immunology and microbiology
Validity of verbal autopsy procedures for determining cause of death in Tanzania
Tropical Medicine and International Health, Volume 11, No. 5, Year 2006
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
OBJECTIVES: To validate verbal autopsy (VA) procedures for use in sample vital registration. Verbal autopsy is an important method for deriving cause-specific mortality estimates where disease burdens are greatest and routine cause-specific mortality data do not exist. METHODS: Verbal autopsies and medical records (MR) were collected for 3123 deaths in the perinatal/neonatal period, post-neonatal <5 age group, and for ages of 5 years and over in Tanzania. Causes of death were assigned by physician panels using the International Classification of Disease, revision 10. Validity was measured by: cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMF); sensitivity; specificity and positive predictive value. Medical record diagnoses were scored for degree of uncertainty, and sensitivity and specificity adjusted. Criteria for evaluating VA performance in generating true proportional mortality were applied. RESULTS: Verbal autopsy produced accurate CSMFs for nine causes in different age groups: birth asphyxia; intrauterine complications; pneumonia; HIV/AIDS; malaria (adults); tuberculosis; cerebrovascular diseases; injuries and direct maternal causes. Results for 20 other causes approached the threshold for good performance. CONCLUSIONS: Verbal autopsy reliably estimated CSMFs for diseases of public health importance in all age groups. Further validation is needed to assess reasons for lack of positive results for some conditions. © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Setel, Philip W.
Unknown Affiliation
Whiting, David R.
Unknown Affiliation
Hemed, Yusuf
Unknown Affiliation
Chandramohan, Daniel
Unknown Affiliation
Wolfson, Lara J.
Unknown Affiliation
Alberti, K. George M.M.
Unknown Affiliation
Lopez, Alan D.
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 181
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 8
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1365-3156.2006.01603.x
ISSN:
13602276
e-ISSN:
13653156
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Infectious Diseases
Maternal And Child Health
Violence And Injury
Study Locations
Tanzania