Cause of Death Certification in COVID-19 Deaths

Appropriate cause of death reporting is vital in the pandemic circumstance for effective planning of the control measures. Accurate reporting and registration of the reason for death are crucial in planning of health programs in turn contributing for the national development.

All births and deaths occurring across India should be mandatorily registered per the Registration of Births and Deaths Act passed in the year 1969. The act also requires the issuance of cause of death certificate by the doctor attending the departed during his last illness. Data obtained from the cause of death certificate provides cause-specific mortality profile, which is required to analyze the health trends of the population.

This article discusses the available guidelines on the appropriate documentation of cause of death in the confirmed or suspected coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection resulting into death.

Proper certification of the cause of death leads to better epidemic surveillance. Scrutiny of the clinical sequences from the cause of death certificate is useful to prioritize the allocation of resources for critical care management and to augment our knowledge about underlying causes resulting in mortality from COVID-19.

Dissemination of available guidelines on proper documentation of the cause of death in confirmed/suspected COVID-19 cases will reduce the errors in cause of death reporting.

Veeranna CH, Rani S. Cause of Death Certification in COVID-19 Deaths. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(9):863-867.