Application of verbal autopsy in routine civil registration in Lusaka District of Zambia

BMC Health Services Research

Chomba Mwango¹  N. Philimon Gona²  Bupe Bwalya Bwalya³  Audrey Kalindi⁴  C. Chabila Mapoma⁴  Brian Munkombwe⁵ 

[1] Bloomberg Data for Health Initiative, Lusaka, Zambia;College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, 02125, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Economics, Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies and School of Social Sciences, Mulungushi University, P.O. Box 80415, Main Campus, Kabwe, Zambia;Department of Population Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia;International Statistics Program, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Lusaka, Zambia;

关键词: Cause of death;    Verbal autopsy;    SmartVA;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-021-06427-y

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAscertaining the causes for deaths occurring outside health facilities is a significant problem in many developing countries where civil registration systems are not well developed or non-functional. Standardized and rigorous verbal autopsy methods is a potential solution to determine the cause of death. We conducted a demonstration project in Lusaka District of Zambia where verbal autopsy (VA) method was implemented in routine civil registration system.MethodsAbout 3400 VA interviews were conducted for bodies “brought-in-dead” at Lusaka’s two major teaching hospital mortuaries using a SmartVA questionnaire between October 2017 and September 2018. Probable underlying causes of deaths using VA and cause-specific mortality fractions were determined.. Demographic characteristics were analyzed for each VA-ascertained cause of death.ResultsOpportunistic infections (OIs) associated with HIV/AIDS such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, and malaria were among leading causes of deaths among bodies “brought-in-dead”. Over 21.6 and 26.9% of deaths were attributable to external causes and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), respectively. The VA-ascertained causes of death varied by age-group and sex. External causes were more prevalent among males in middle ages (put an age range like 30–54 years old) and NCDs highly prevalent among those aged 55 years and older.ConclusionsVA application in civil registration system can provide the much-needed cause of death information for non-facility deaths in countries with under-developed or non-functional civil registration systems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY