Impact of documentation errors on accuracy of cause of death coding in an educational hospital in Southern Iran
Abstract
Accurate cause of death coding leads to organised and usable death information but there are some factors that influence documentation on death certificates and therefore affect the coding. We reviewed the role of documentation errors on the accuracy of death coding at Shahid Mohammadi Hospital (SMH), Bandar Abbas, Iran. We studied the death certificates of all deceased patients in SMH from October 2010 to March 2011. Researchers determined and coded the underlying cause of death on the death certificates according to the guidelines issued by the World Health Organization in Volume 2 of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems-10 th revision (ICD-10). Necessary ICD coding rules (such as the General Principle, Rules 1–3, the modification rules and other instructions about death coding) were applied to select the underlying cause of death on each certificate. Demographic details and documentation errors were then extracted. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and chi square tests. The accuracy rate of causes of death coding was 51.7%, demonstrating a statistically significant relationship (p=.001) with major errors but not such a relationship with minor errors. Factors that result in poor quality of Cause of Death coding in SMH are lack of coder training, documentation errors and the undesirable structure of death certificates.
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The proportion with pathological confirmation varies widely by country and cancer, but routine registry evidence for a cancer diagnosis is much more precise and definitive than the causes of death recorded on death certificates used for mortality statistics.
“The proportion varies widely between countries and for different cancers, but the evidence supporting a cancer diagnosis in routine cancer registry data is far more precise and definitive than for the cause(s) of death recorded on death certificates, from which mortality statistics are obtained.72–75”
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- Authors
- Haghighi, M. H. H., Dehghani, M., Teshizi, S. H., & Mahmoodi, H.
- Affiliations
- Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- Saeid Hoseini Teshizi, MBiostat, Biostatistician, Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedical School, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, IRAN
- Venue
- Health Information Management Journal
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-06
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 34-42
- ISSN
- 1833-3583 (ISSN-L)
- 1833-3575
- OpenAlex
- W2261052049
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2016-06-06)
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Information Management Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Medical Coding and Health Information
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Issues, ethics and legal aspects › Nursing Diagnosis and Documentation
- Keywords
- cause of death coding, documentation errors, death certificates, ICD-10, coding accuracy, clinical documentation, coder training, educational hospitals
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Cause of Death, Death Certificates, Female, Hospital Records, Hospitals, Teaching, Humans, Iran, Male, Middle Aged, World Health Organization, International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Coding
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