Observational studyBMJ global health2021
Accuracy of verbal autopsy, clinical data and minimally invasive autopsy in the evaluation of malaria-specific mortality: an observational study.
Observational study in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. 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.
- Validation of malaria-attributed deaths using verbal autopsy studies: a systematic review.Malaria journal · 2024Pooled it
- Cause-Specific Mortality among Infants in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Azithromycin Compared to Placebo for Prevention of Mortality.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Trial
- Estimates of global causes of death for children and adolescents aged 5-19 in 2000-24: secondary data analysis using bayesian multinomial logistic regression.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Investigating the Role of Cytomegalovirus as a Cause of Stillbirths and Child Deaths in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Through Postmortem Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Comparison of verbal autopsy using a large language model to biologically confirmed causes of death for malaria and other communicable diseases among children in six sub-Saharan African countries.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- Advancing approaches to identify young children at risk for post-discharge mortality: Protocol for a prospective observational cohort study in Western Kenya.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of a simplified minimally invasive tissue sampling protocol for stillbirths in low-resource settings.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Malaria-Associated Mortality in the 19th Century.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- The contribution of minimally invasive tissue sampling compared to antemortem-derived cause of death determination among inpatient child deaths: the minimally invasive tissue sampling in Malawi study.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- The effects of climatic and non-climatic factors on malaria mortality at different spatial scales in western Kenya, 2008-2019.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Burden of child mortality from malaria in high endemic areas: Results from the CHAMPS network using minimally invasive tissue sampling.The Journal of infection · 2024Article
- Altered gastrointestinal tract structure and microbiome following cerebral malaria infection.Parasitology research · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the kidney community: lessons learned and future directions.Nature reviews. Nephrology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
26 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGlobal malaria mortality estimates are hindered by the low reliability of the verbal autopsy (VA) and the clinical records, the most common sources of information used to estimate malaria-specific mortality. We aimed to determine the accuracy of these tools, as well as of the minimally invasive autopsy (MIA), a needle-based postmortem sampling method, to identify malaria-specific mortality in a large series of deceased patients from Mozambique, using complete autopsy as the gold standard.
methodsObservational study that included 264 deaths, occurring at a tertiary level hospital in Mozambique, from 1 November 2013 to 31 March 2015 (17 months-long period). Clinical data were abstracted, a computer coded VA was completed using the clinical data as source of information, and an MIA followed by a complete autopsy were performed. Screening for malaria infection was conducted postmortem to all participants using molecular and histological techniques (PCR and immunohistochemistry).
findingsMalaria infection was considered the cause of death in 6/264 (2.3%) cases: 2/54 children (3.7%, both less than 5 years old) and 4/57 (7.0%) maternal deaths. The sensitivity and specificity of the VA, the clinical data and the MIA to identify malaria-specific deaths were 33.3% and 96.1%, 66.7% and 96.1%, and 100% and 100%, respectively. In addition, malaria was identified as a possible contributor in 14 additional patients who died of other diseases. These cases were also accurately identified by the MIA (sensitivity 82.4%, specificity 100%).
interpretationThe high sensitivity and specificity of the MIA in identifying malaria may help to improve current estimates of malaria-specific mortality in endemic areas.
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