Table 3 Major and minor errors in death certificates assessed
Error type | Correctness of death certificates according to study group (%) | Percentage point improvement (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-intervention (n = 300) | Online intervention (n = 900) | Online and training intervention (n = 900) | Online intervention | Online and training intervention | |
Major errors | |||||
Multiples causes per line | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 |
Absence of disease time interval | 96.0 | 47.1 | 30.0 | 48.9** | 66.0** |
Incorrect sequence of events leading to death | 40.3 | 25.9 | 17.9 | 14.4** | 22.4** |
Ill-defined condition entered as an underlying cause of death | 52.0 | 45.4 | 38.9 | 6.6* | 13.1** |
Minor errors | |||||
Presence of blank lines within the sequence of events | 11.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 11.1** | 11.0** |
Abbreviations used in certifying the death | 11.7 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 7.1** | 7.6** |
Additional errors on the certificate | 32.3 | 26.6 | 21.0 | 5.7 | 11.3** |
- External causes, missing details | 4.7 | 4.6 | 2.1 | ||
- Neoplasms, missing details | 15.0 | 8.1 | 6.3 | ||
- No units in age of deceased | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | ||
- Other | 12.7 | 13.7 | 12.0 | ||