Commentary
Synergism of verbal autopsy and diagnostic pathology autopsy for improved accuracy of mortality data
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* Corresponding author: Corinne L Fligner fligner@u.washington.edu
1 Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Box 356100, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
2 National Institute for Occupational Health, National Health Laboratory Service and School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Box 4788, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
3 Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-Pathology, 55 Fruit Street WRN 219, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
Population Health Metrics 2011, 9:25 doi:10.1186/1478-7954-9-25
Published: 1 August 2011First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
This series provides an important opportunity to consider how diagnostic pathology autopsy could be used in conjunction with verbal autopsy to provide more accurate cause of death and mortality data in all countries, and specifically in those countries with inadequate or nonexistent death registrations systems. For the purposes of this commentary, the term "autopsy" will denote the medical-pathology diagnostic procedure, in contrast to "verbal autopsy."