Cause of Death

Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines

A verbal autopsy is an interview carried out with family members and caregivers of the deceased, using a structured questionnaire to elicit signs and symptoms and other pertinent information that can later be used to assign a probable underlying cause of death. The results of the verbal autopsy interview may be analysed using a computer algorithm (automated verbal autopsy), which generates a probable cause of death based on the interviewee responses. Alternatively, a verbal autopsy may be used as a decision-support tool for physicians where there is inadequate information on the deceased’s medical history or the chain of events that led to death.

Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines

If a verbal autopsy is used, the authorities must determine who will conduct it-local health workers, civil registrars, local leaders or others- and which entity will be responsible for training, supervising and monitoring the interviewers in the verbal autopsy. A designated person must conduct the VA by asking questions that are contained in the WHO VA questionnaire. The answers given by the family/care giver should then be reviewed by a computer algorithm or a physician, or both.

Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines

Verbal autopsies should only be used for statistical purposes, and never legal purposes because there are risks of inaccuracies in determining cause of death which renders a verabl autopsy unreliable for legal use.