Frequency and types of errors in clinician-composed death certificates for patients with or without autopsy in a hospital population

Abstract Background Death certificate (DC) errors are common. At our institution, all deaths have a preliminary death certificate (PDC) written by a clinician and then revised by a pathologist prior to the clinician signing the final death certificate (FDC). In autopsy cases, the FDC is signed by th...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of public health (Oxford, England) England), 2024-02, Vol.46 (1), p.83-86
Hauptverfasser: Pape, Ariana, Scherpelz, Kathryn P
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creator Pape, Ariana
Scherpelz, Kathryn P
description Abstract Background Death certificate (DC) errors are common. At our institution, all deaths have a preliminary death certificate (PDC) written by a clinician and then revised by a pathologist prior to the clinician signing the final death certificate (FDC). In autopsy cases, the FDC is signed by the pathologist who performs the autopsy. Methods A total of 100 in-hospital deaths (50 with autopsy and 50 without) occurred in 2020 were arbitrarily selected from a tertiary care center. All PDCs and FDCs were compared to identify/classify errors as major (incorrect cause of death (COD) or significant contributing factors) or minor (abbreviations, inappropriate non-essential contributing factors, immediate/intermediate COD errors). Frequency of PDC errors was compared by autopsy status, duration of hospital stay and PDC author. Results Ninety percent of cases had at least one PDC error and 39% had a major error. Major errors were more common in autopsy cases (50% versus 28%, P = 0.035), although minor/overall errors were not. Error rates did not significantly differ for the other variables assessed. Conclusions There is significance of having a pathologist review and revise DCs before they are signed. The increased frequency in major errors in cases with autopsy suggests that autopsy findings provided additional information to elucidate COD.
doi_str_mv 10.1093/pubmed/fdad255
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At our institution, all deaths have a preliminary death certificate (PDC) written by a clinician and then revised by a pathologist prior to the clinician signing the final death certificate (FDC). In autopsy cases, the FDC is signed by the pathologist who performs the autopsy. Methods A total of 100 in-hospital deaths (50 with autopsy and 50 without) occurred in 2020 were arbitrarily selected from a tertiary care center. All PDCs and FDCs were compared to identify/classify errors as major (incorrect cause of death (COD) or significant contributing factors) or minor (abbreviations, inappropriate non-essential contributing factors, immediate/intermediate COD errors). Frequency of PDC errors was compared by autopsy status, duration of hospital stay and PDC author. Results Ninety percent of cases had at least one PDC error and 39% had a major error. Major errors were more common in autopsy cases (50% versus 28%, P = 0.035), although minor/overall errors were not. Error rates did not significantly differ for the other variables assessed. Conclusions There is significance of having a pathologist review and revise DCs before they are signed. The increased frequency in major errors in cases with autopsy suggests that autopsy findings provided additional information to elucidate COD.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1741-3842</identifier><identifier>ISSN: 1741-3850</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1741-3850</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdad255</identifier><identifier>PMID: 38061768</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>England: Oxford University Press</publisher><subject>Autopsy ; Cause of Death ; Death Certificates ; Health Facilities ; Humans ; Tertiary Care Centers</subject><ispartof>Journal of public health (Oxford, England), 2024-02, Vol.46 (1), p.83-86</ispartof><rights>The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com 2023</rights><rights>The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. 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At our institution, all deaths have a preliminary death certificate (PDC) written by a clinician and then revised by a pathologist prior to the clinician signing the final death certificate (FDC). In autopsy cases, the FDC is signed by the pathologist who performs the autopsy. Methods A total of 100 in-hospital deaths (50 with autopsy and 50 without) occurred in 2020 were arbitrarily selected from a tertiary care center. All PDCs and FDCs were compared to identify/classify errors as major (incorrect cause of death (COD) or significant contributing factors) or minor (abbreviations, inappropriate non-essential contributing factors, immediate/intermediate COD errors). Frequency of PDC errors was compared by autopsy status, duration of hospital stay and PDC author. Results Ninety percent of cases had at least one PDC error and 39% had a major error. Major errors were more common in autopsy cases (50% versus 28%, P = 0.035), although minor/overall errors were not. Error rates did not significantly differ for the other variables assessed. Conclusions There is significance of having a pathologist review and revise DCs before they are signed. The increased frequency in major errors in cases with autopsy suggests that autopsy findings provided additional information to elucidate COD.</description><subject>Autopsy</subject><subject>Cause of Death</subject><subject>Death Certificates</subject><subject>Health Facilities</subject><subject>Humans</subject><subject>Tertiary Care Centers</subject><issn>1741-3842</issn><issn>1741-3850</issn><issn>1741-3850</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2024</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><sourceid>EIF</sourceid><recordid>eNqFkDtLBDEURoMovltLSanFuHlMZjOliC8QbLQeMskNG5mdxCSDbO8PN8ustlY33Jzvg3sQuqDkhpKWL8LUr8EsrFGGCbGHjumyphWXguz_vWt2hE5S-iCEtYyIQ3TEJWnospHH6PshwucEo95gNRqcNwES9hZDjD4m7EasBzc67dRYab8OPoHBBlReYQ0xO-u0yiVifcRBZQdjTvjLle-y2E4_Zaym7EPabNsUXvkUXFYDDj5MQ4n48QwdWDUkON_NU_T-cP9291S9vD4-392-VJrJOldCgGyt5LUhwAWtKbHKSqj7nitGGmOF4K2EXjDLemNMv7S9kUSypuHADOOn6GruDdGXo1Pu1i5pGAY1gp9Sx9piqGG0bQp6M6M6-pQi2C5Et1Zx01HSbc13s_luZ74ELnfd8_4X_1VdgOsZ8FP4r-wH3lSTLg</recordid><startdate>20240223</startdate><enddate>20240223</enddate><creator>Pape, Ariana</creator><creator>Scherpelz, Kathryn P</creator><general>Oxford University Press</general><scope>CGR</scope><scope>CUY</scope><scope>CVF</scope><scope>ECM</scope><scope>EIF</scope><scope>NPM</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>7X8</scope></search><sort><creationdate>20240223</creationdate><title>Frequency and types of errors in clinician-composed death certificates for patients with or without autopsy in a hospital population</title><author>Pape, Ariana ; Scherpelz, Kathryn P</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c284t-55e89f834d0e351410faf8e4bb3a206df55398eb52f2bdddb7fbd8082663e2d23</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2024</creationdate><topic>Autopsy</topic><topic>Cause of Death</topic><topic>Death Certificates</topic><topic>Health Facilities</topic><topic>Humans</topic><topic>Tertiary Care Centers</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Pape, Ariana</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Scherpelz, Kathryn P</creatorcontrib><collection>Medline</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE (Ovid)</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>PubMed</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>MEDLINE - Academic</collection><jtitle>Journal of public health (Oxford, England)</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Pape, Ariana</au><au>Scherpelz, Kathryn P</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Frequency and types of errors in clinician-composed death certificates for patients with or without autopsy in a hospital population</atitle><jtitle>Journal of public health (Oxford, England)</jtitle><addtitle>J Public Health (Oxf)</addtitle><date>2024-02-23</date><risdate>2024</risdate><volume>46</volume><issue>1</issue><spage>83</spage><epage>86</epage><pages>83-86</pages><issn>1741-3842</issn><issn>1741-3850</issn><eissn>1741-3850</eissn><abstract>Abstract Background Death certificate (DC) errors are common. At our institution, all deaths have a preliminary death certificate (PDC) written by a clinician and then revised by a pathologist prior to the clinician signing the final death certificate (FDC). In autopsy cases, the FDC is signed by the pathologist who performs the autopsy. Methods A total of 100 in-hospital deaths (50 with autopsy and 50 without) occurred in 2020 were arbitrarily selected from a tertiary care center. All PDCs and FDCs were compared to identify/classify errors as major (incorrect cause of death (COD) or significant contributing factors) or minor (abbreviations, inappropriate non-essential contributing factors, immediate/intermediate COD errors). Frequency of PDC errors was compared by autopsy status, duration of hospital stay and PDC author. Results Ninety percent of cases had at least one PDC error and 39% had a major error. Major errors were more common in autopsy cases (50% versus 28%, P = 0.035), although minor/overall errors were not. Error rates did not significantly differ for the other variables assessed. Conclusions There is significance of having a pathologist review and revise DCs before they are signed. The increased frequency in major errors in cases with autopsy suggests that autopsy findings provided additional information to elucidate COD.</abstract><cop>England</cop><pub>Oxford University Press</pub><pmid>38061768</pmid><doi>10.1093/pubmed/fdad255</doi><tpages>4</tpages></addata></record>
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source MEDLINE; Oxford University Press Journals All Titles (1996-Current)
subjects Autopsy
Cause of Death
Death Certificates
Health Facilities
Humans
Tertiary Care Centers
title Frequency and types of errors in clinician-composed death certificates for patients with or without autopsy in a hospital population
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