Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32544003›Full record

ArticleGlobal health action2020

Ascertaining cause of mortality among middle-aged and older persons using computer-coded and expert review verbal autopsies in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

Yuan S Zhang, Peifeng Hu, John A Strauss, Yaohui Zhao, Yafeng Wang, Eileen M Crimmins

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Global health action, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
2.6field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Yuan S ZhangCarolina Population Center, University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill, NC, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1290-9305
Peifeng HuDavid Geffen School of Medicine, University of California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.
John A StraussDepartment of Economics, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Yaohui ZhaoNational School of Development, Peking University , Beijing, China.
Yafeng WangInstitute of Social Surveys, Peking University , Beijing, China.
Eileen M CrimminsSchool of Gerontology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Peking University · CNUniversity of Southern California · USUniversity of California, Los Angeles · USUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · US

Funding

USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography &Population HealthP30AG017265 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI JENNIFER A AILSHIRE, HIRAM BELTRAN-SANCHEZ · 1999 to 2026
$17.9M
China Health and Retirement Longitudinal StudyR01AG037031 · NIA · PEKING UNIVERSITY · PI STRAUSS, JOHN A, WANG, YAFENG · 2010 to 2024
$15.1M
RESEARCH TRAINING IN GERONTOLOGYT32AG000037 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI JENNIFER A AILSHIRE, EILEEN M CRIMMINS · 1985 to 2026
$13.2M
USC Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (US-RCMAR)P30AG043073 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI EMMA AGUILA, JENNIFER A AILSHIRE · 2012 to 2026
$10.1M
From Biological to Social Processes: Interdisciplinary Training in Life Course ResearchT32HD091058 · NICHD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI ROBERT A HUMMER, Amanda L Thompson · 2017 to 2026
$4.3M
Harmonized Cognitive and Dementia Assessment in ChinaR01AG053228 · NIA · PEKING UNIVERSITY · PI HUANG, YUEQIN, STRAUSS, JOHN A · 2016 to 2019
$1.7M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG017265NIA NIH HHS P30 AG043073NIA NIH HHS R01 AG037031NIA NIH HHS R01 AG053228NIA NIH HHS T32 AG000037NICHD NIH HHS T32 HD091058
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVerbal autopsy is designed to ascertain causes of death that are not registered or certified. Verbal autopsy has been validated in multiple settings but has not been as widely evaluated for older populations as for younger age groups.

objectiveThis study aims to provide empirical evidence of the value of verbal autopsy interviews in the context of population-based surveys of older adults by comparing the cause-of-death assignments derived from two methods of interpreting verbal autopsy data.

methodsData used in this study come from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of older Chinese. We compared 407 causes of death determined using InterVA, which is a computer-coded method, and causes of death as assigned by experts; then evaluated factors that affect the results of the two approaches.

resultsAmong the 407 deaths, neoplasms, cardiac disease, and stroke are the leading causes of death according to both approaches. The consistency of the two approaches is about 45% at the individual level. The primary reason for the mismatch is that no cause of death could be assigned for more than 25% of the sample based on expert review. A higher likelihood of mismatch is associated with advanced age and a long period between death and verbal autopsy interview.

conclusionBoth approaches identify the same leading causes of death at the aggregate level, but consistency is relatively low at the individual level. InterVA works well when causes of death are characterized by distinctive signs and symptoms. Grouping the various causes of death with shared etiology or common risk factors may help improve the quality of the ascertainment of causes of death. Open-ended narratives are helpful because they provide information about the circumstances surrounding the death that are not available in the structured verbal autopsy interviews.

Indexed as

Cause of DeathAgedAged, 80 and overAlgorithmsAutopsyChinaDiagnosis, Computer-AssistedExpert TestimonyFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedMortalityagingcause of deathChina Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)developing countriesVerbal autopsy

Identifiers

PMID32544003
PMCPMC7480525
OpenAlexW3035242206

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.