Verbal autopsy

Verbal autopsy (VA) is a method of gathering information about symptoms and circumstances for a deceased individual to determine their cause of death. Health information and a description of events prior to death are acquired from conversations or interviews with a person or persons familiar with the deceased and analyzed by health professionals or computer algorithms to assign likely cause(s) of death.[1]

Verbal autopsy is used in settings where most deaths are otherwise undocumented, which typically means in low- and middle-income countries. Estimates suggest a majority of the 60 million annual global deaths occur without medical attention or official medical certification of the cause of death.[2] VA attempts to establish causes of death for otherwise undocumented subjects, allowing scientists to analyze disease patterns and direct public health policy decisions.

Noteworthy large-scale uses of the verbal autopsy method include the Million Death Study in India, China's national program to document causes of death in rural areas, the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010, and the INDEPTH Network multi-site study.[1][3][4][5] VA is increasingly recognised as an important component of national CRVS (civil registration and vital statistics) systems.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference r1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Civil registration coverage of cause of death". www.who.int. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference r4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Lozano R, Naghavi M, Foreman K, Lim S, Shibuya K, Aboyans V, et al. (December 2012). "Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010". Lancet. 380 (9859): 2095–128. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61728-0. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30050819. PMC 10790329. PMID 23245604. S2CID 1541253.
  5. ^ Byass, Peter; INDEPTH Network (October 2014). INDEPTH Network Cause-Specific Mortality - Release 2014. INDEPTH.GH003.COD2014.v1 (Report). INDEPTH Network Data Repository. doi:10.7796/INDEPTH.GH003.COD2014.v1.