Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
Improving Cause of Death Information for Infant Deaths by Application of Verbal Autopsy Tool in India
Subscribe/Renew Journal
Objective: To see the usefulness of verbal autopsy and in assessing the cause of deaths among infants and identify gaps in reporting system in 4 PHCs in India.
Methodology: The study incorporated all the infant deaths, which occurred in a one-year period from 2nd Jan 2004 to 1st Jan 2005 in Yavatmal district (rural India).This data was compared with the corresponding district data and the gaps in reporting were identified site-wise.
Results: Among the 4 health centers under reporting was more than 50% in 2 health centers. The IMR was found to be 59 per 1000 live births in contrast to 38 per 1000, given by the district authorities. Medical certification of cause of death was done in only 12% of deaths. Of all the 90 infant deaths studied, majority (73%) were delivered at home and were attended by unskilled personnel (72%). There were 63% deaths which occurred in the early neonatal period, 13% in late neonatal period and 23% in post neonatal period. In early neonatal period 47% were contributed by both Prematurity and LBW. In post neonatal period mostly infectious causes like ARI contributed for 35% followed by CNS infections (12%).
Conclusions: It was seen that the verbal autopsy can be used for two purposes. Firstly, it can help to give information for the health planners to prioritize health services based on the mortality pattern of an area. Secondly the VA can be used for collecting information for action at the local level.
Keywords
- Bang A.T, Bang R.A & the SEARCH team, Diagnosis of causes of childhood deaths in developing countries by verbal autopsy: suggested criteria. Bulletin of WHO 70(4) : 499-507 (1992)
- Millennium Development Goals and the UNDP role. UNDP Fast Facts. (www.undp.org). 2000.
- National Health Policy 2002. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Government of India, New Delhi.
- Tenth five Year Plan, (2002-07) Planning Commission, Government of India,Vol.1, Chapter 1,page 6.
- Health for All by the year 2000 AD, New Delhi. Report of Working Group of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, 1981.
- Jha. P: Reliable Mortality Data : A powerful tool for public health; The National Medical Journal of India Vol 14; No.3 (2001)
- Annual Report – Survey of Causes of Death (Rural). New Delhi: Vital Statistics Division, Office of the Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, 1992.
- LSHTM. Verbal Autopsy Workshop; verbal autopsy tools for adult deaths. Workshop report. London: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1993.
- Kalter HD, Gray RH, Black RE,et al. Validation of postmortem interviews to ascertain selected causes of deaths in children. International Journal of Epidemiology 1990: 19:380-386.
- Garenne M, Fontaine O. Assessing probable causes of death using standardized questionnaire: A study in rural Senegal. In: Palloni A,ed. Measurement and Analysis of Mortality. Oxford: Clarendon press, 1990.
- Chandramohan D, Maude G, Rodrignes L & Hayes R (1994) Verbal Autopsies for adult deaths : Issues in their development and validation . International Journal of Epidemiology (23); 213-222.
- WHO. Implementation of the global Strategy for Health for All by the year 2000, Second Evaluation, Eighth Report on the World Health Situation, Vol.4, South East Asia Region: WHO,1993
- RGI. Sex Ratio of Maharastra, Census of India accessed on line at www.censusindia.net. New Delhi, 2001
- Bang AT, Bang RA, Morankar VP,et al. Pneumonia in neonate: can it be managed in the community? Arch Dis Child 1993; 68: 550-56.
- Sutrisna B, Reingold A, Kresno S, et al. Careseeking for fatal illness in young children in Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia. Lancet 1993; 342: 887-89.
- Bhandari N, Bahl R, Bhatnagar V, Bahn MK. Treating sick young infants in urban slum setting. Lancet 1996; 347:1174-75.
- Kumar S. Status of Medical Certification of Cause of Death in India In: Counting the Dead in India in the 21st Century, Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on certification of Causes of Death, Goa, India, 9-12 February, 2000. Vol. Series B. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
- Mitra RG. Death Registration in India. In Counting the Dead in India in the 21st Century, Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on certification of Causes of Death, Goa, India, 9-12 February, 2000. Vol. Series B. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
- Datta N, Mand. M & Kumar V; Validation of causes of infant deaths in the community by verbal autopsy. Indian Journal of Pediatrics 1998;55: 599-604
- Kalter HD, Gray RH, Black RE,et al. Validation of postmortem interviews to ascertain selected causes of deaths in children. International Journal of Epidemiology 1990: 19:380-386.
- Chandramohan D, Maude G, Rodrignes L & Hayes R (1994) Verbal Autopsies for adult deaths: Issues in their development and validation. International Journal of Epidemiology (23); 213-222.
- WHO. Bridging the gaps, The World Health Report, Report of the Director General Geneva: World Health Organization,1995
- Bang AT, Bang RA, Baitule SB, Reddy MH,et al. Effect of Home Based Neonatal Care and Management of Sepsis on Neonatal Mortality. Lancet 1999;354:1955-56
- Kaushik SL, Parmar VR, Grover N, Kaushik R. NMR: Relationship to Birth weight and gestational age. Indian J Pediatr 1998; 65: 429-433.
- Pratinidhi A, Shah U, A.S, et al. Risk approach strategy in neonatal care. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 1986; 64:291-97.
- Bang A.T, Bang R.A & the SEARCH team, Diagnosis of causes of childhood deaths in developing countries by verbal autopsy: suggested criteria. Bulletin of WHO 70(4) : 499-507 (1992).
Abstract Views: 399
PDF Views: 0