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Table 4 Quality assessment of medical certificates of cause of death pre- and post-training in Peru (online system and basic training strategy)

From: Improving medical certification of cause of death: effective strategies and approaches based on experiences from the Data for Health Initiative

Assessment

MCCODs with errors (%)

Baseline

After online intervention

After online and training intervention

Percentage improvement after online intervention*

Percentage improvement after online and training intervention*

Incorrectly completed certificates (at least one error)

100.0

69.9

56.7

30.1

43.3

 Certificates with one error

16.3

18.2

18.6

− 11.7

− 14.1

 Certificates with two or more errors

83.7

51.7

38.1

38.2

54.5

Certificates with at least one major error†

69.0

53.4

44.0

22.6

36.2

Certificates with minor errors only

31.0

16.4

12.7

47.1

59.0

Certificates with major errors

     

 Multiples causes per line

2.0

1.3

0.6

35.0

70.0

 Incorrect sequence of events leading to death

40.3

25.9

17.9

35.7

55.6

 Illegible handwriting

–

–

–

–

–

 Ill-defined condition entered as an underlying cause of death

52.0

45.4

38.9

12.7

25.2

 Additional information on external causes not available

5.0

4.5

2.1

10.0

58.0

 Additional information on neoplasms not available

15.0

8.1

6.3

46.0

58.0

Certificates with minor errors

 Presence of blank lines within the sequence of events

11.3

0.2

0.3

98.2

97.3

 Abbreviations used in certifying the death

11.7

4.6

4.1

60.7

65.0

 Absence of disease time interval

96.0

47.1

30.0

50.9

68.8

 Additional errors on the certificate

12.7

13.9

12.6

−9.4

0.8

  1. Total column percentages may total > 100% as a single MCCOD may contain more than one error
  2. –No data available
  3. *Negative values indicate lower quality after training
  4. †Category may contain minor errors