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Assessment of the accuracy of death certification at two referral hospitals

Abdulaziz A Binsaeed1, Muslim M Al-Saadi, Khaldoon A Aljerian

  • 1Department of Family & Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Journal of Family & Community Medicine
|September 27, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Death certification accuracy is low, with 80.3% misdiagnosed causes of death. Inconsistent translation between hospitals highlights a need for improved death certification quality in Saudi Arabia.

Area of Science:

  • Medical Informatics
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Death certification is crucial for global mortality statistics and population health assessment.
  • This study investigates the consistency of death reports against clinical records in Saudi Arabian hospitals.
  • Focuses on King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) and King Fahad National Guard hospital (KFNGH).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the accuracy of underlying cause of death determination in death reports.
  • To compare the consistency of information between death reports and patient clinical files.
  • To assess the accuracy of English-to-Arabic translation of causes of death.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of 157 deceased patient records from 2002.
  • Independent determination of the underlying cause of death from clinical records.
  • Comparison of determined causes with official death reports and translation accuracy.

Main Results:

  • A high rate of misdiagnosis (80.3%) was observed in death reports.
  • No significant difference in misdiagnosis rates between KKUH and KFNGH (p>0.05).
  • Significant disparities in translation accuracy: KFNGH (86.1%) vs. KKUH (25%, p<0.0001).

Conclusions:

  • Discrepancies exist between clinical records and death reports regarding the cause of death.
  • Inconsistent translation of causes of death between the two hospitals was noted.
  • Urgent measures are needed to enhance the quality of death certification processes.
Abstract

Keywords:
AccuracyAssessment & Death reportsDeath certification

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