Assessing The Mortality Patterns in Rural Villages of Gujarat State of India Through Field Based Study Using Verbal Autopsy Tool

Abstract

Background: Well-planned verbal autopsies can provide timely, robust, and plausible information on mortality causes and can have positive influence on disease control priorities. The present study was intended to assess probable causes of death in rural areas of Anand district of Gujarat State by implementing “Verbal autopsy tool.” Material and Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted where all recorded 227 deaths from six villages of selected areas during January 2017 to December 2018 were considered for the study. Multiple steps were employed in conducting verbal autopsy including staff training, development of study questionnaires, physician’s involvement in assigning causes of death etc. The data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software with Version 24. Results: Out of 227 deaths, the maximum deaths were attributed to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The predominant NCDs among deceased individuals were cardiovascular diseases (66.01%), malignancy (21.56%), chronic pulmonary diseases (9.80%) and Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (2.63%). Among communicable diseases, nearly 48% of deceased individuals had bacterial infections including Tuberculosis followed by viral infections including HIV (31%), parasitic infections (21%). Conclusions: Despite few limitations, lay reporting of deaths supplemented with physician assignment of cause of death for verbal autopsies, remains a practicable strategy to record the various patterns of mortality reliably for unattended deaths.