What's been added to 1989 certificate? Well...
Article Abstract:
The revised national death certificate form provides more detailed instructions for the cause-of-death section. Three lines are provided for listing the underling causes of death, and physicians are permitted to add extra lines if necessary. Another question asks is autopsy findings were available prior to completion of the cause-of-death section. The form also permits an additional physician to contribute information concerning cause-of-death. Research on cause of death has shown that a "major disagreement on the underlying cause of death" lead to reclassification of the cause of death in a different International Classification of Diseases "major disease category" in 29 percent of the cases studied. Disagreements on the specific disease that caused death occurred in another 26 percent of the cases which were reviewed. Respiratory and digestive system diseases were the most frequent areas of conflict. Poorly-diagnosed causes of death may be associated with a decrease in the rate of autopsy that has occurred over the past 30 years. In the 1950s, about 50 percent of the deaths in U.S. hospitals were followed by autopsy, whereas in 1984 only 13.2 percent of patients who died in hospitals underwent autopsies. In teaching hospitals, where autopsies are an important diagnostic, research, and teaching tool, the autopsy rate is at an all-time low, between 20 and 30 percent.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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States modify certificate to meet specific needs
Article Abstract:
Some states have added their own questions to this year's revised national death certificate form. For example, Oregon has chosen to add a question about tobacco use in order to assess the percentage of the state's lung cancer cases that stem from the use of tobacco. The state of Missouri has chosen to add a question about the relation between alcohol and accidental death. These questions are just for state use, according to experts at the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, MD. The examples demonstrate initiatives that states are taking to make the form more accurate. Ultimately, physicians must become better educated about determining the cause of death and filling out death certificate forms.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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Proposed new death certificate is only as good a data source as physician who fills it out
Article Abstract:
Changes in the U.S. death certificate model became effective on January 1, 1989. The new forms are designed to help physicians provide more complete and accurate information, particularly in reference to "cause of death." Death certificate entries are used in all 50 states to provide accurate statistics for the assessment of the U.S. population's health, based on data such as cause of death, age, race, and sex. Additionally, the data derived from these documents can be used to ascertain what medical treatments have been successful and whether illness prevention programs are effective. The new forms are designed to reduce the rate of discrepancies between data on death certificates and those on medical records.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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