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Campos MAG, Cutrim ÉAM, Cutrim ÉMM, de Oliveira JVP, de Oliveira EJSG, Pontes DDB, de Figueiredo JA, Silva GEB. Accuracy of the Verbal Autopsy questionnaire in the diagnosis of COVID-19 deaths in a Brazilian capital. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 2024; 66:e33. [PMID: 38747854 PMCID: PMC11095245 DOI: 10.1590/s1678-9946202466033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The Verbal Autopsy (VA) is a questionnaire about the circumstances surrounding a death. It was widely used in Brazil to assist in postmortem diagnoses and investigate excess mortality during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to determine the accuracy of investigating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) using VA. This is a cross-sectional study with prospective data collected from January 2020 to August 2021 at the Death Verification Service of Sao Luis city, Brazil. VA was performed for suspected COVID-19 deaths, and one day of the week was randomly chosen to collect samples from patients without suspected COVID-19. Two swabs were collected after death and subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Of the 250 cases included, the VA questionnaire identified COVID-19-related ARDS in 67.2% (52.98% were positive for COVID-19). The sensitivity of the VA questionnaire was 0.53 (0.45-0.61), the specificity was 0.75 (0.64-0.84), the positive predictive value was 0.81 (0.72-0.88), and the negative predictive value was 0.44 (0.36-0.53). The VA had a lower-than-expected accuracy for detecting COVID-19 deaths; however, because it is an easily accessible and cost-effective tool, it can be combined with more accurate methods to improve its performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Adriano Garcia Campos
- Universidade Estadual Paulista, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Hospital das Clínicas, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Érico Murilo Monteiro Cutrim
- Universidade Estadual Paulista, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Hospital das Clínicas, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Gyl Eanes Barros Silva
- Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Faculdade de Medicina, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil
- Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Patologia e Medicina Legal, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
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Ahsan N, Malik FA, Mughis W, Jabeen R, Mehboob S, Allana R, Quratulain S, Jamal S, Paganelli CR, Goco N, Parlberg L, Omer SB, Kazi AM. Postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling in communities: exploring perceptions of families, funeral workers, religious and community leaders and healthcare providers from Pakistan. BMC Health Serv Res 2023; 23:1402. [PMID: 38093318 PMCID: PMC10720140 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-10438-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) has increasingly been used to improve the diagnosis of disease and identification of the cause of death, particularly in underserved areas. However, there are multiple barriers to accessing those who die within the community, our study aimed to explore the perceptions and insights of community members and healthcare providers regarding the feasibility of implementing MITS in community settings. METHODS A qualitative exploratory study was conducted. A total of twenty one in-depth interviews were conducted with deceased infants' parents, elders of the family, religious leaders, community leaders, and funeral workers. Focus group discussions were conducted with health care providers (n = 14) in two peri-urban slum areas of Karachi, Pakistan. The duration of this study was from August to October 2020. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis and was coded and merged into categories forming eight major themes. RESULTS In general, participants viewed minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) as beneficial for improving child health, though some had concerns about disrespecting the deceased during sample collection. Misinformation, fear of needles, and medical procedures were major barriers to MITS implementation. To enhance acceptance, community and religious leaders suggested using religious rulings, obtaining parental consent, ensuring confidentiality, and increasing efforts of community engagement. Community healthcare providers, along with funeral workers, recommended providing community members with grief counseling to increase study participation. Besides concerns about sampling interfering with respect for the decease, community members also raised concerns about misinformation. Further, participants provided feedback on the design and appearance of the mobile van used to collect MITS samples from children under the age of five. CONCLUSION This study is critical for understanding the challenges associated with implementation of community-based MITS sampling in Pakistan. Integrating the use of a mobile van for sample collection, grief counseling along with community engagement sessions and advocacy will help address community-based misinformation and develop community trust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nazia Ahsan
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Fauzia Aman Malik
- Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Waliyah Mughis
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Rawshan Jabeen
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Shaheen Mehboob
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Raheel Allana
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Syeda Quratulain
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Saima Jamal
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Christina R Paganelli
- Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Seattle Washington, NC, USA
| | - Norman Goco
- Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Seattle Washington, NC, USA
| | - Lindsay Parlberg
- Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Seattle Washington, NC, USA
| | - Saad B Omer
- Yale Institute for Global Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Abdul Momin Kazi
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
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Acharya A, Chowdhury HR, Ihyauddin Z, Mahesh PKB, Adair T. Cardiovascular disease mortality based on verbal autopsy in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Bull World Health Organ 2023; 101:571-586. [PMID: 37638359 PMCID: PMC10452938 DOI: 10.2471/blt.23.289802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective To conduct a systematic review of verbal autopsy studies in low- and middle-income countries to estimate the fraction of deaths due to cardiovascular disease. Method We searched MEDLINE®, Embase® and Scopus databases for verbal autopsy studies in low- and middle-income countries that reported deaths from cardiovascular disease. Two reviewers screened the studies, extracted data and assessed study quality. We calculated cause-specific mortality fractions for cardiovascular disease for each study, both overall and according to age, sex, geographical location and type of cardiovascular disease. Findings We identified 42 studies for inclusion in the review. Overall, the cardiovascular disease cause-specific mortality fractions for people aged 15 years and above was 22.9%. This fraction was generally higher for males (24.7%) than females (20.9%), but the pattern varied across World Health Organization regions. The highest cardiovascular disease mortality fraction was reported in the Western Pacific Region (26.3%), followed by the South-East Asia Region (24.1%) and the African Region (12.7%). The cardiovascular disease mortality fraction was higher in urban than rural populations in all regions, except the South-East Asia Region. The mortality fraction for ischaemic heart disease (12.3%) was higher than that for stroke (8.7%). Overall, 69.4% of cardiovascular disease deaths were reported in people aged 65 years and above. Conclusion The burden of cardiovascular disease deaths outside health-care settings in low- and middle-income countries is substantial. Increasing coverage of verbal autopsies in these countries could help fill gaps in cardiovascular disease mortality data and improve monitoring of national, regional and global health goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ajay Acharya
- The Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Level 5, 333 Exhibition St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 VIC, Australia
| | | | - Zulfikar Ihyauddin
- The Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Level 5, 333 Exhibition St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 VIC, Australia
| | - Pasyodun Koralage Buddhika Mahesh
- The Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Level 5, 333 Exhibition St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 VIC, Australia
| | - Tim Adair
- The Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Level 5, 333 Exhibition St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 VIC, Australia
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Nahar Q, Alam A, Mahmud K, Sathi SS, Chakraborty N, Siddique AB, Rahman AE, Streatfield PK, Jamil K, El Arifeen S. Levels and trends in mortality and causes of death among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh: Findings from three national surveys. J Glob Health 2023; 13:07005. [PMID: 37616128 PMCID: PMC10449030 DOI: 10.7189/jogh.13.07005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Information on the mortality rate and proportional cause-specific mortality is essential for identifying diseases of public health importance, design programmes, and formulating policies, but such data on women of reproductive age in Bangladesh is limited. Methods We analysed secondary data from the 2001, 2010, and 2016 rounds of the nationally representative Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Health Care Survey (BMMS) to estimate mortality rates and causes of death among women aged 15-49 years. We collected information on causes of death three years prior to each survey using a country-adapted version of the World Health Organization (WHO) verbal autopsy (VA) questionnaire. Trained physicians independently reviewed the VA questionnaire and assigned a cause of death using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. The analysis included mortality rates and proportional mortality showing overall and age-specific causes of death. Results The overall mortality rates for women aged 15-49 years decreased over time, from 190 per 100 000 years of observation in the 2001 BMMS, to 121 per 100 000 in the 2010 BMMS, to 116 per 100 000 in the 2016 BMMS. Age-specific mortality showed a similar downward pattern. The three diseases contributing the most to mortality were maternal causes (13-20%), circulatory system diseases (15-23%), and malignancy (14-24%). The relative position of these three diseases changed between the three surveys. From the 2001 BMMS to the 2010 BMMS and subsequently to the 2016 BMMS, the number of deaths from non-communicable diseases (e.g. cardiovascular diseases and malignancies) increased from 29% to 38% to 48%. Maternal causes led to the highest proportion of deaths among 20-34-year-olds in all three surveys (25-32%), while suicide was the number one cause of death for teenagers (19-22%). Circulatory system diseases and malignancy were the two leading causes of death for older women aged 35-49 years (40%-67%). Conclusions There was a gradual shift in the causes of death from communicable to non-communicable diseases among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh. Suicide as the primary cause of death among teenage girls demands urgent attention for prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quamrun Nahar
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Anadil Alam
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | | | | | - Nitai Chakraborty
- Data for Impact, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA
| | | | | | | | - Kanta Jamil
- Independent Consultant, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Shams El Arifeen
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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Wutor BM, Osei I, Babila Galega L, Ezeani E, Adefila W, Hossain I, Sarwar G, Mackenzie G. Verbal autopsy analysis of childhood deaths in rural Gambia. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0277377. [PMID: 37410741 PMCID: PMC10325104 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In low-resource settings, it is challenging to ascertain the burden and causes of under-5 mortality as many deaths occur outside health facilities. We aimed to determine the causes of childhood deaths in rural Gambia using verbal autopsies (VA). METHODOLOGY We used WHO VA questionnaires to conduct VAs for deaths under-5 years of age in the Basse and Fuladu West Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) in rural Gambia between September 01, 2019, and December 31, 2021. Using a standardized cause of death list, two physicians assigned causes of death and discordant diagnoses were resolved by consensus. RESULTS VAs were conducted for 89% (647/727) of deaths. Of these deaths, 49.5% (n = 319) occurred at home, 50.1% (n = 324) in females, and 32.3% (n = 209) in neonates. Acute respiratory infection including pneumonia (ARIP) (33.7%, n = 137) and diarrhoeal diseases (23.3%, n = 95) were the commonest primary causes of death in the post-neonatal period. In the neonatal period, unspecified perinatal causes of death (34.0%, n = 71) and deaths due to birth asphyxia (27.3%, n = 57) were the commonest causes of death. Severe malnutrition (28.6%, n = 185) was the commonest underlying cause of death. In the neonatal period, deaths due to birth asphyxia (p-value<0.001) and severe anaemia (p-value = 0.03) were more likely to occur at hospitals while unspecified perinatal deaths (p-value = 0.01) were more likely to occur at home. In the post-neonatal period, deaths due to ARIP (p-value = 0.04) and diarrhoeal disease (p-value = 0.001) were more likely to occur among children aged 1-11 months and 12-23 months respectively. CONCLUSION According to VA analysis of deaths identified within two HDSS in rural Gambia, half of deaths amongst children under-5 in rural Gambia occur at home. ARIP and diarrhoea, and the underlying cause of severe malnutrition remain the predominant causes of child mortality. Improved health care and health-seeking behaviour may reduce childhood deaths in rural Gambia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baleng Mahama Wutor
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Isaac Osei
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
- Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lobga Babila Galega
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Esu Ezeani
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Williams Adefila
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Ilias Hossain
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Golam Sarwar
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Grant Mackenzie
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
- Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
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Mahesh BPK, Hart JD, Acharya A, Chowdhury HR, Joshi R, Adair T, Hazard RH. Correction: Validation studies of verbal autopsy methods: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:157. [PMID: 36691008 PMCID: PMC9872277 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-14895-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Buddhika P. K. Mahesh
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria Australia
| | - John D. Hart
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria Australia
| | - Ajay Acharya
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria Australia
| | - Hafizur Rahman Chowdhury
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria Australia
| | - Rohina Joshi
- grid.464831.c0000 0004 8496 8261The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi, India ,grid.1005.40000 0004 4902 0432School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Tim Adair
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria Australia
| | - Riley H. Hazard
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XMelbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria Australia
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