Errors Detected in Death Certificates issued in a Medical College of Nepal

Abstract

Introduction

A death certificate is a medico-legal document required for formulating policies for improving the healthcare system of any nation. Occurrence of errors while filling up these documents has negatively affected on reliability and validity of these pivotal documents.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Gandaki Medical College (GMC), Pokhara. The mortality file records of ICU and ER patients were collected from 14^th April 2019 to 14^th April 2022. Errors in the death certificates were noted in proforma. The data was entered in Microsoft Excel and further analysis was done by SPSS 16.0.

Results

The occurrence of errors in death certificates prepared at Gandaki Medical College was 97.84% with the majority of errors i.e.; 82% was noted in the Immediate Cause of Death (ICOD) section of the death certificate followed by 79% of errors were noted in Other Significant Conditions (OSC) and 74% error was noted in the Underlying Cause of Death (UCOD) section. Besides this, the most frequent error was ‘not reporting the time interval from onset to death’, observed in 99.3% of cases followed by the ‘use of abbreviations’ when certifying the cause of death in 64% and the ‘entry of ill-defined conditions as the underlying cause of death (UCOD)’ in 61.2% of death certificates.

Conclusions

The findings of this study highlight the need for improved education and training of doctors to ensure accurate documentation of death certificates. Regular training programs and workshops may ultimately contribute to improved healthcare policy formulation and decision making based on these findings.