scholarly journals Feasibility of using death certificates for studying place of death in Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Katja Seitz ◽  
Luc Deliens ◽  
Joachim Cohen ◽  
Cardozo Emanuel Adrian ◽  
Vilma A. Tripodoro ◽  
...  

Objective. This paper assesses the availability and quality of death certificate data in Latin America and the feasibility of using these data to study place of death and associated factors. Methods. In this comparative study, we collected examples of current official death certificates and digital data files containing information about all deaths that occurred during 1 year in 19 Latin American countries. Data were collected from June 2019 to May 2020. The records for place of death and associated variables were studied. The criteria for data quality were completeness, number of ill-defined causes of death and timeliness. Results. All 19 countries provided copies of current official death certificates and 18 of these registered the place of death. Distinguishing among hospital or other health care institution, home and other was possible for all countries. Digital data files with death certificate data were available from 12 countries and 1 region. Three countries had data considered to be of high quality and seven had data considered to be of medium quality. Categories for place of death and most of the predetermined factors possibly associated with place of death were included in the data files. Conclusions. The quality of data sets was rated medium to high in 10 countries. Hence, death certificate data make it feasible to conduct an international comparative study on place of death and the associated factors in Latin America.

2020 ◽  
pp. jech-2019-213285
Author(s):  
Nicholas Jennings ◽  
Kenneth Chambaere ◽  
Luc Deliens ◽  
Joachim Cohen

BackgroundValuable information for planning future end-of-life care (EOLC) services and care facilities can be gained by studying trends in place of death (POD). Scarce data exist on the POD in small developing countries. This study aims to examine shifts in the POD of all persons dying between 1999 and 2010 in Trinidad and Tobago, to draw conclusions about changes in the distribution of POD over time and the possible implications for EOLC practice and policy.MethodsA population-level analysis of routinely collected death certificate data of the most recent available fully coded years at the time of the study—1999 to 2010. Observed proportions for the POD of all deaths were standardised according to the age, sex and cause of death distribution in 1999. Trends for a subgroup of persons who died from causes indicative of a palliative care (PC) need were also examined.ResultsThe proportion of deaths in government hospitals increased from 48.9% to 55.4% and decreased from 38.7% to 29.7% at private homes. There was little variation between observed and standardised rates. The decrease in home deaths was stronger when the PC subcategory was considered, most notably from cancer.ConclusionInternationally, the proportion of deaths at institutions is increasing. A national strategy on palliative and EOLC is needed to facilitate the increasing number of people who seek EOLC at government hospitals in Trinidad and Tobago, including an investigation into the reasons for the trend. Alternatives to accommodate out-of-hospital deaths can be considered.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Harding ◽  
Stefano Marchetti ◽  
Bregje D. Onwuteaka-Philipsen ◽  
Donna M. Wilson ◽  
Miguel Ruiz-Ramos ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
María José Cabañero-Martínez ◽  
Andreu Nolasco ◽  
Inmaculada Melchor ◽  
Manuel Fernández-Alcántara ◽  
Julio Cabrero-García

Abstract Background Although studies suggest that most people prefer to die at home, not enough is known about place of death patterns by cause of death considering sociodemographic factors. The objective of this study was to determine the place of death in the population and to analyze the sociodemographic variables and causes of death associated with home as the place of death. Methods Cross-sectional population-based study. All death certificate data on the residents in Spain aged 15 or over who died in Spain between 2012 and 2015 were included. We employed multinomial logistic regression to explore the relation between place of death, sociodemographic variables and cause of death classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, and to conditions needing palliative care. Results Over half of all deaths occurred in hospital (57.4%), representing double the frequency of deaths that occurred at home. All the sociodemographic variables (sex, educational level, urbanization level, marital status, age and country of birth) were associated with place of death, although age presented the strongest association. Cause of death was the main predictor with heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and senility accounting for the highest percentages of home deaths. Conclusions Most people die in hospital. Cause of death presented a stronger association with place of death than sociodemographic variables; of these latter, age, urbanization level and marital status were the main predictors. These results will prove useful in planning end-of-life care that is more closely tailored to people’s circumstances and needs.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Cohen ◽  
Johan Bilsen ◽  
Guido Miccinesi ◽  
Rurik Löfmark ◽  
Julia Addington-Hall ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Lazenby ◽  
Tony Ma ◽  
Howard J. Moffat ◽  
Marjorie Funk ◽  
M. Tish Knobf ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:There is an emerging body of research aimed at understanding the determinants of place of death, as where people die may influence the quality of their death. However, little is known about place of death for people of Southern Africa. This study describes place of death (home or hospital) and potential influencing factors (cause of death, age, gender, occupation, and district of residence).Method:We collected the death records for years 2005 and 2006 for all adult non-traumatic deaths that occurred in Botswana, described them, and looked for associations using bivariate and multivariate analyses.Results:The evaluable sample consisted of 18,869 death records. Home deaths accounted for 36% of all deaths, and were predominantly listed with “unknown” cause (82.3%). Causes of death for hospital deaths were HIV/AIDS (49.7%), cardiovascular disease (13.8%), and cancer (6.6%). The mean age at the time of all deaths was 53.2 years (SD = 20.9); with 61 years (SD = 22.5) for home deaths and 48.8 years (SD = 18.6) for hospital deaths (p < .001). Logistic regression analysis revealed the following independent predictors of dying at home: unknown cause of death; female gender; >80 years of age; and residing in a city or rural area (p < .05).Significance of Results:A major limitation of this study was documentation of cause of death; the majority of people who died at home were listed with an unknown cause of death. This finding impeded the ability of the study to determine whether cause of death influenced dying at home. Future study is needed to determine whether verbal autopsies would increase death-certificate listings of causes of home deaths. These data would help direct end-of-life care for patients in the home.


Author(s):  
Laura S. Sandt ◽  
Scott K. Proescholdbell ◽  
Kelly R. Evenson ◽  
Whitney R. Robinson ◽  
Daniel A. Rodríguez ◽  
...  

Pedestrian safety programs are needed to address the rising incidence of pedestrian fatalities. Unfortunately, most communities lack comprehensive information on the circumstances of pedestrian crashes and resulting injuries that could help guide decision-making for prevention program development and implementation. This study aimed to evaluate how three commonly available data sources (police-reported pedestrian crashes, emergency department [ED] visits, and death certificates) define and capture pedestrian injury data, and to compare the distribution of pedestrian injuries and fatalities across these data sources. Existing state-wide data sources in North Carolina, U.S.A.,—police-reported pedestrian crashes, ED visits, and death certificates—were used to perform a descriptive analysis of temporal and demographic pedestrian injury severity distributions for a 6-year period (2007–2012). After excluding non-relevant cases, there were 12,646 police-reported pedestrian crashes, 17,369 pedestrian-injury-related ED visits, and 993 pedestrian-related death certificate cases. Pedestrian injury distributions appeared similar across the three data sets in relation to pedestrian sex, age, and temporality. Police data (which represented crashes rather than all pedestrians involved in a crash) likely underrepresented pedestrian injury incidence, while ED data (which represented ED visits, with multiple visits per person possible) likely overrepresented pedestrian injury incidence. The study provides a better understanding of the discrepancies between pedestrian injury data sources and key considerations when using police, ED, and death certificate data for surveillance or injury prevention efforts.


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