Intentional search and reclassification of maternal deaths in Mexico: The effect on the distribution of causes.

Objective. To correct the misclassification and improve the quality of information on maternal mortality in Mexico. Materials and methods. Using clinical records and verbal autopsies, we studied all deaths certified as maternal deaths as well as a selection of deaths of women of childbearing age who...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luis Manuel Torres, Ana Luisa Rhenals, Aline Jiménez, Dolores Ramírez-Villalobos, Rocío Urióstegui, Miriam Piña, Humberto Rocha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública 2014-06-01
Series:Salud Pública de México
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.saludpublica.mx/index.php/spm/article/view/7353
Description
Summary:Objective. To correct the misclassification and improve the quality of information on maternal mortality in Mexico. Materials and methods. Using clinical records and verbal autopsies, we studied all deaths certified as maternal deaths as well as a selection of deaths of women of childbearing age whose causes were considered as suspected of hiding a maternal death, all of which occurred during 2011 within Mexico. Results. The deliberate search of maternal deaths and reclassification allowed the rescue of just over 100 deaths that were not originally registered or coded as maternal and confirmed or corrected the causes of death recorded on death certificates as confirmed maternal deaths. This procedure also allowed the reclassification of 297 maternal deaths of women in the groundwork of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. Conclusions. International Search and Reclassification of Maternal Deaths is a very useful procedure for improving the classification of cases that were not classified as maternal deaths and the effect was greater with the coding of indirect obstetric deaths.
ISSN:0036-3634
1606-7916