Evaluation of Medical Certification of Cause of Death in Tertiary Cancer Hospitals in Northern India

Abstract

Background: Medical certification of cause of death (MCCD) provides valuable data regarding disease burden in a community and for formulating health policy. Inaccurate MCCDs can significantly impair the precision of national health information.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of cause of death certificates prepared at two tertiary cancer care hospitals in Northern India during the study period (May 2018 to December 2020).

Method: A retrospective observational study at two tertiary cancer care hospitals in Varanasi, India, over a period of two and a half years. Medical records and cause of death certificates of all decedents were examined. Demographic characteristics, administrative details and cause of death data were collected using the WHO recommended death certificates. Accuracy of death certification was validated by electronic medical records and errors were graded.

Results: A total of 778 deaths occurred in the two centres during the study period. Of these, only 30 (3.9%) certificates were error-free; 591 (75.9%) certificates had an inappropriate immediate cause of death; 231 (29.7%) certificates had incorrectly labelled modes of death as the immediate cause of death; and 585 (75.2%) certificates had an incorrect underlying cause of death. The majority of certificates were prepared by junior doctors and were significantly associated with higher certification errors.

Conclusion: A high rate of errors was identified in death certification at the cancer care hospitals during the study period. Inaccurate MCCDs related to cancers can potentially influence cancer statistics and thereby affect policy making for cancer control.

Implications: This study has identified the pressing need for appropriate interventions to improve quality of certification through training of doctors.

Keywords: ICD-10; cause of death; clinical classification; death certificates; electronic health record; health information management; health policy; registries.