Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2006; all rights reserved.
Commentary |
Commentary: Verbal autopsy procedure for adult deaths
1 Epidemiological Research Center, Chennai, India
2 Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU), University of Oxford, UK
* Corresponding author. Epidemiological Research Center, New no. 27, Canal Road, Kilpauk Garden Colony, Chennai 600010, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: gajaerc@gmail.com
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Estimation of cause of death is more difficult in developing countries because neither health-facility-based information system nor vital registration provides adequate data on the cause of mortality. In many of the developing countries verbal autopsy (VA) may be a surrogate for death certificates in ascertaining causes of death. VA is a systematic retrospective inquiry of the family members about the circumstances, events, symptoms, and signs of illness prior to death to help determine the underlying cause of death and to classify the broad patterns of mortality. There are two main approaches to conducting a VA. One is using a questionnaire approach; and, the other is using a list of symptoms and signs to probe the respondent so as to get more details that would help write narrative text. The questionnaire method is more commonly used for childhood deaths1 and