Citation

Aljerian K. Death Stud. 2019; 43(5): 311-315.

Affiliation

a Forensic Medicine Unit, Department of Pathology , College of Medicine, King Saud University , Saudi Arabia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07481187.2018.1461712

PMID

29757087

Abstract

Proper completion of death certificates is of vital importance. This study assessed the accuracy of death certification at one major hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We collected all certificates from 1997 to 2016 and scored them on the degree of accuracy. We found no errors of incompleteness or missed contributors to death. However, in all certificates (100%), cause of death was either incorrect or absent; 75% provided no cause of death. Further large-scale studies should be conducted in other hospitals to determine the exact prevalence of these serious errors.

Language: en

Keywords

cause of death; death certificate; errors