Getting all the facts of death

Elsie H. Burger; Jimmy Volmink

doi:10.1080/20786204.2009.10873858

Scientific Letters

Getting all the facts of death

Elsie H. Burger, Jimmy Volmink

About the author(s)

Elsie H. Burger, Division of Forensic Medicine, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Jimmy Volmink, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Full Text:

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Abstract

We conducted a study of death notification form (DNF) completion relating to 844 deceased Cape Town residents, and evaluated the completeness of information on the forms. The DNFs frequently lacked important data on both the deceased and the health professional who completed the DNF (completing health professional). Urgent intervention is needed to improve the usefulness of the DNF as a source data on health statistics in South Africa.

Keywords

mortality; cause of death; death notification; death certification; epidemiology; vital statistics; documentation/standards

Metrics

Total abstract views: 1348
Total article views: 4805

Crossref Citations

No related citations found.

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