Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Analysis of Young Infant Deaths Using Verbal Autopsies and Accuracy of Verbal Autopsy Tool in Chennai, India

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Indian Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To identify medical and non-medical factors associated with young infant deaths using verbal autopsies and to evaluate the validity of state verbal autopsy tool in identifying medical causes.

Design

Descriptive study to report factors associated with young infant deaths, and diagnostic accuracy study of the verbal autopsy tool.

Results

Prematurity related illnesses were the major contributors to mortality. Deliveries were predominantly in health care facilities (99%); lower maternal education (11.2%), lesser birth spacing (80%), and higher birth order (7.5%) were other factors noted. Verbal autopsy questionnaire had a diagnostic accuracy of ≥95% in identifying major causes of death (kappa value 0.8–1.0).

Conclusion

Current state verbal autopsy tool is valid in identifying causes of death.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Black RE, Morris SS, Bryce J. Where and why are 10 million children dying every year? Lancet. 2003;361:2226–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lawn JE, Cousens S, Zupan J, Lancet Neonatal Survival Steering Team. 4 million neonatal deaths: when? Where? Why? Lancet. 2005;365:891–900.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lawn JE, Wilczynska-Ketende K, Cousens SN. Estimating the causes of 4 million neonatal deaths in the year 2000. Int J Epidemiol. 2006;35:706–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Thatte N, Kalter HD, Baqui AH, Williams EM, Darmstadt GL. Ascertaining causes of neonatal deaths using verbal autopsy: current methods and challenges. J Perinatol. 2009;29:187–94.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Viera AJ, Garrett JM. Understanding interobserver agreement: The kappa statistic. Fam Med. 2005;37:360–3.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Lim SS, Dandona L, Hoisington JA, James SL, Hogan MC, Gakidou E. India’s Janani Suraksha Yojana, a conditional cash transfer programme to increase births in health facilities: An impact evaluation. Lancet. 2010;375:2009–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Tripathi N, Saini SK, Prinja S. Impact of Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram on out-of-pocket expenditure among urban slum dwellers in northern India. Indian Pediatr. 2014;51:475–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Baqui AH, Darmstadt GL, Williams EK, et al. Rates, timing and causes of neonatal deaths in rural India: Implications for neonatal health programmes. Bull World Health Organ. 2006;84:706–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bapat U, Alcock G, More NS, Das S, Joshi W, Osrin D. Stillbirths and newborn deaths in slum settlements in Mumbai, India: A prospective verbal autopsy study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2012;12:39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bhandari N, Bahl R, Taneja S, Martines J, Bhan MK. Pathways to infant mortality in urban slums of Delhi, India: implications for improving the quality of community- and hospital-based programmes. J Health Popul Nutr. 2002;20:148–55.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Million Death Study Collaborators, Bassani DG, Kumar R, Awasthi S, et al. Causes of neonatal and child mortality in India: A nationally representative mortality survey. Lancet. 2010;376:1853–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Soofi SB, Ariff S, Khan U, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of WHO verbal autopsy tool for ascertaining causes of neonatal deaths in the urban setting of Pakistan: A hospital-based prospective study. BMC Pediatr. 2015;15:144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Edmond KM, Quigley MA, Zandoh C, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of verbal autopsies in ascertaining the causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in rural Ghana. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2008;22:417–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Anker M. The effect of misclassification error on reported cause-specific mortality fractions from verbal autopsy. Int J Epidemiol 1997;26:1090–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Manual for the training of interviewers on the use of the 2016 WHO VA instrument. World Health Organization; 2017.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neonatology, Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Madras Medical College, Egmore, Chennai, 600 008, India

    R. Usha Devi, S. Mangala Bharathi & J. Kumutha

Authors
  1. R. Usha Devi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Mangala Bharathi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Kumutha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Mangala Bharathi.

Additional information

Ethics Clearance

Institutional ethics committee Madras Medical College, Chennai; No. ECR/270/mst./TN/2013/No.10012017, dated January 3, 2017.

Contributors

UDR: design of study, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing and draft preparation; MBS: data interpretation, design, critical editing and draft preparation; KJ: data interpretation, design, critical editing and draft preparation. All the authors contributed to drafting of the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Funding

None

Competing interests

None stated.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Usha Devi, R., Mangala Bharathi, S. & Kumutha, J. Analysis of Young Infant Deaths Using Verbal Autopsies and Accuracy of Verbal Autopsy Tool in Chennai, India. Indian Pediatr 58, 363–366 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-021-2197-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-021-2197-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation