ArticleBMC public health2017
Validation of verbal autopsy: determination of cause of deaths in Malaysia 2013.
Article in BMC public health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death registries: a systematic review of global coverage.Open heart · 2020Pooled it
- Place of Death for People with Life-Limiting Illnesses in Malaysia: Trends (2005-2019) and Projections to 2030.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2026Article
- The Malaysian Burden of Disease Study: Protocol for Mortality, Morbidity, and Risk Factor Evaluation.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- A Qualitative Method To Assess a History of Cerebral Malaria in Malian Children.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Article
- Value of Verbal Autopsy in a Fragile Setting: Reported versus Estimated Community Deaths Associated with COVID-19, Banadir, Somalia.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Verbal autopsy analysis of childhood deaths in rural Gambia.PloS one · 2023Article
- The burden of premature mortality among older adults: a population-based study in Malaysia.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Underreported Breast and Cervical Cancer Deaths Among Brought-In-Dead Cases in Zambia.JCO global oncology · 2021Article
- Non-communicable Disease Surveillance in Malaysia: An Overview of Existing Systems and Priorities Going Forward.Frontiers in public health · 2021Review
- Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling in Preterm Deaths: A Validation Study.Global pediatric health · 2020Article
- Evaluating the quality of evidence for diagnosing ischemic heart disease from verbal autopsy in Indonesia.World journal of cardiology · 2019Article
- Validation of verbal autopsy methods using hospital medical records: a case study in Vietnam.BMC medical research methodology · 2018Article
- Erratum to: Validation of verbal autopsy: determination of cause of deaths in Malaysia 2013.BMC public health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMortality statistics by age, sex and cause are the foundation of basic health data required for health status assessment, epidemiological research and formation of health policy. Close to half the deaths in Malaysia occur outside a health facility, are not attended by medical personnel, and are given a lay opinion as to the cause of death, leading to poor quality of data from vital registration. Verbal autopsy (VA) is a very useful tool in diagnosing broad causes of deaths for events that occur outside health facilities. This article reports the development of the VA methods and our principal finding from a validation study.
methodsA cross sectional study on nationally representative sample deaths that occurred in Malaysia during 2013 was used. A VA questionnaire suitable for local use was developed. Trained field interviewers visited the family members of the deceased at their homes and conducted face to face interviews with the next of kin. Completed questionnaires were reviewed by trained physicians who assigned multiple and underlying causes. Reference diagnoses for validation were obtained from review of medical records (MR) available for a sample of the overall study deaths.
resultsCorresponding MR diagnosis with matched sample of the VA diagnosis were available in 2172 cases for the validation study. Sensitivity scores were good (>75%) for transport accidents and certain cancers. Moderate sensitivity (50% - 75%) was obtained for ischaemic heart disease (64%) and cerebrovascular disease (72%). The validation sample for deaths due to major causes such as ischaemic heart disease, pneumonia, breast cancer and transport accidents show low cause-specific mortality fraction (CSMF) changes. The scores obtained for the top 10 leading site-specific cancers ranged from average to good.
conclusionWe can conclude that VA is suitable for implementation for deaths outside the health facilities in Malaysia. This would reduce ill-defined mortality causes in vital registration data, and yield more accurate national mortality statistics.
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