Assessment of Standards in Issuing Cause of Death Certificate before and after Educational Intervention Sudharson T1, Karthikeyan KJM2,*, Mahender G3, Mestri Shashidhar C4, Singh M Balaji5 1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, ACS Medical College, Chennai 2Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, KAP Viswanatham Government Medical College, Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu 3Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, ACS Medical College, Chennai 4Professor (Retired), Department of Forensic Medicine, Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu 5Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, ACS Medical College, Chennai *Corresponding author: Dr. Karthikeyan KJM, Email ID: dr.kjmunique24@gmail.com
Online published on 17 July, 2019. Abstract Death is a fact which everyone should acknowledge some or the other day, and one of its most important aspects is its certification. Mortality statistics form an integral part of the vital data of a country. Almost every physician has to fill at least one death certificate in his/her career. However, teaching the precise wording and formulation of causes of death is not usually included either in undergraduate or in postgraduate medical education. [3] Consequently, inaccuracies in the completion of death certificates may lead to biased estimation of several epidemiological parameters. After explaining the objectives of the study, a real case scenario was given and the participants were asked to fill the details in the MCCD. Then a lecture is given about filling up MCCD. After this a different case scenario is given to them. Only 2 death certificates (2.5%) were free from all errors and complete. Alteast 1 major error occurred in 51 (63.75%) cases, the most common was wrong sequencing of causal events (60%). Unrelated causal events stated as related only in 6 (7.5%) cases. Atleast 1 minor error were found in 78 (97.5%) certificates. The most common minor error was not mentioning the duration of illness, which occurred in 68 (85%) cases. This study reflects inadequate practice, training and lack of awareness about importance of medical certificate of cause of death, carelessness and negligence on the part of attending doctors. All doctors should realize that Medical Certificate of Cause of Death is an important scientific tool and has far reaching impact (on international health. Top Keywords Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, Major errors, Minor errors, Underlying cause. Top |