[Reliability of data on the major causes of death]

The authors discuss problems of the correct assessment of the diagnosis of the main cause of death in the appropriate form, based on results of 228 doctors of different specialities. They assessed the agreement between the diagnosis of the main cause of death made by doctors of different specialities and the pathologist and whether the entry was correct from the formal aspect. Of all 2185 diagnoses 52.3% were correct, 46.3% incorrect and 1.4% were not entered on the form. Of all 1012 incorrect diagnoses 62.9% were incorrect as regards their content and 37.1% as to the place of entry on the form. In complicated cases only 18.2% diagnoses were correct. With regard to the revealed facts the authors recommend to investigate the morbidity by causes separately for those subjected and not subjected to post-mortem examinations. The authors also make suggestions how to improve the reliability of data on the main cause of death.