Using health facility deaths to estimate population causes of neonatal and child mortality in four African countries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Verbal autopsy is the main method used in countries with weak civil registration systems for estimating community causes of neonatal and 1-59-month-old deaths. However, validation studies of verbal autopsy methods are limited and assessment has been dependent on hospital-based studies, with uncertain implications for its validity in community settings. If the distribution of community deaths by cause was similar to that of facility deaths, or could be adjusted according to related demographic factors, then the causes of facility deaths could be used to estimate population causes.

Methods

Causes of neonatal and 1-59-month-old deaths from verbal/social autopsy (VASA) surveys in four African countries were estimated using expert algorithms (EAVA) and physician coding

SUBMITTER: Kalter HD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7291588 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature