Death certification in a teaching hospital--a one year review

Death certification is believed to be very poor and inaccurate in most of the health institutions in India. A hospital based study on assessing the accuracy in completing the medical certificates of cause of death was conducted in Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal during September to December 2007. Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) from the Medical Record Section for the period from 1st January up to 31st December, 2006 were audited for errors committed in completing the certificates. Data extracted using a proforma--age, sex, date of death, causes of death as recorded, department. Major error was observed in 38.3% and minor error was observed in 77.6% of the MCCD. Mechanism of death was listed as the cause of death in 21.9% of the certificates. The most prevalent type of error was the absence of time intervals (65.3%).