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Verbal autopsy: current practices and challenges.

Nadia Soleman1, Daniel Chandramohan, Kenji Shibuya

  • 1Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, England. nadia.soleman@lshtm.ac.uk

Bulletin of the World Health Organization
|April 4, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Verbal autopsy (VA) data is crucial for health planning where vital registration is lacking. However, significant variations in VA tools and procedures hinder accurate comparisons, necessitating standardization for reliable global health insights.

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Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Demography

Background:

  • Verbal autopsy (VA) is essential for determining causes of death in regions lacking comprehensive vital registration systems.
  • This method is widely implemented across numerous sites, particularly in Africa and Asia, for health surveillance and planning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the existing verbal autopsy (VA) tools and operating procedures.
  • To identify variations in VA methodologies across different demographic surveillance and vital registration sites.
  • To highlight the need for standardization in VA processes for improved data comparability.

Main Methods:

  • Information was gathered from 36 field sites regarding their operational procedures.
  • A review was conducted on 18 verbal autopsy questionnaires and 10 cause-of-death lists from 13 countries.

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Main Results:

  • Substantial heterogeneity was observed in the format and content of VA questionnaires, field procedures, and cause-of-death determination methods.
  • Significant variations exist in how verbal autopsy data is collected and processed across different international sites.

Conclusions:

  • Standardization of verbal autopsy (VA) tools and procedures is critical for ensuring the reliability and comparability of cause-of-death data.
  • Further development is needed to establish a standardized VA process to support accurate national and international health assessments.