ArticlePloS one2016
Understanding Misclassification between Neonatal Deaths and Stillbirths: Empirical Evidence from Malawi.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perinatal mortality in eastern Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Pooled it
- Global, regional, and national estimates of levels of preterm birth in 2014: a systematic review and modelling analysis.The Lancet. Global health · 2019Pooled it
- Comparison of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in a retrospective full pregnancy history survey versus population-based prospective records: a validation study in rural Sarlahi District, Nepal.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2023Trial
- Cause-specific mortality of children younger than 5 years in communities receiving biannual mass azithromycin treatment in Niger: verbal autopsy results from a cluster-randomised controlled trial.The Lancet. Global health · 2020Trial
- Feasibility and Validity of Mobile Phone-Based Proxy Full Pregnancy History (mPFPH) for Estimating Perinatal Mortality in Rural Northwest Bangladesh.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2026Article
- Association of parental stress, depression, anxiety, and somatisation: Mediating role of coping behaviours among mothers of preterm infants in Ghana.Dialogues in health · 2026Article
- Pregnancy reporting and biases in under-five mortality in three African HDSSs.Population studies · 2025Article
- Accounting for stillbirths in maternal health metrics: a cross-country analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Definitions, terminology and standards for reporting of births and deaths in the perinatal period: International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Review
- Fatalism or vigilance? Exposure to infant and maternal deaths and subsequent use of maternal health services in Malawi.World development · 2025Article
- Under-five mortality during the war in Tigray: A community-based study.Conflict and health · 2024Article
- Article
- Exploring women's interpretations of survey questions on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes: cognitive interviews in Iganga Mayuge, Uganda.Reproductive health · 2024Article
- Association of maternal, obstetric, fetal, and neonatal mortality outcomes with Lady Health Worker coverage from a cross-sectional survey of >10,000 households in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Maternal interventions to decrease stillbirths and neonatal mortality in Tanzania: evidence from the 2017-18 cross-sectional Tanzania verbal and social autopsy study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Provider-mother interactions are associated with birth outcome misclassifications in household surveys: A case-control study in Guinea-Bissau.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- Quality of vital event data for infant mortality estimation in prospective, population-based studies: an analysis of secondary data from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.Population health metrics · 2023Article
- Maternal mortality, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality: a transition model based on analyses of 151 countries.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Article
- Out of sight, out of mind? Evidence from cross-sectional surveys on hidden caesarean sections among women with stillbirths in Ghana, 2007 and 2017.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Measuring stillbirth and perinatal mortality rates through household surveys: a population-based analysis using an integrated approach to data quality assessment and adjustment with 157 surveys from 53 countries.The Lancet. Global health · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Improving the counting of stillbirths and neonatal deaths is important to tracking Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 and improving vital statistics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the validity of self-reported stillbirths and neonatal deaths in surveys is often threatened by misclassification errors between the two birth outcomes. We assessed the extent and correlates of stillbirths being misclassified as neonatal deaths by comparing two recent and linked population surveys conducted in Malawi, one being a full birth history (FBH) survey, and the other a follow-up verbal/social autopsy (VASA) survey. We found that one-fifth of 365 neonatal deaths identified in the FBH survey were classified as stillbirths in the VASA survey. Neonatal deaths with signs of movements in the last few days before delivery reported were less likely to be misclassified stillbirths (OR = 0.08, p<0.05). Having signs of birth injury was found to be associated with higher odds of misclassification (OR = 6.17, p<0.05). We recommend replicating our study with larger sample size in other settings. Additionally, we recommend conducting validation studies to confirm accuracy and completeness of live births and neonatal deaths reported in household surveys with events reported in a full birth history and the extent of underestimation of neonatal mortality resulting from misclassifications. Questions on fetal movement, signs of life at delivery and improved probing among older mother may be useful to improve accuracy of reported events.
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