Validity of a minimally invasive autopsy for cause of death determination in stillborn babies and neonates in Mozambique: An observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Over 5 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths occur annually. Limited and imprecise information on the cause of these deaths hampers progress in achieving global health targets. Complete diagnostic autopsies (CDAs)-the gold standard for cause of death determination-are difficult to perform in most high-burden settings. Therefore, validation of simpler and more feasible methods is needed.

Methods and findings

In this observational study, the validity of a minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) method in determining the cause of death was assessed in 18 stillbirths and 41 neonatal deaths by comparing the results of the MIA with those of the CDA. Concordance between the categories of diseases obtained by the 2 methods was assessed by the Kappa statistic, and the sensitivi

SUBMITTER: Menendez C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5478138 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature