Critical Analysis of Errors in Medical Certification of Cause of Death [MCCD] in a Teaching Hospital

Authors: Bhat SS and Kumar VAG*

DOI: 10.23880/ijfsc-16000157

Volume 4, Issue 1

Abstract

Medical certificate of cause of death is a document to be filled in case of death, by a medical practitioner after examining the body and confirming that the person is dead. It is the responsibility of the treating physician to issue MCCD in the correct manner and as per the prevailing rules and regulations. The primary aim of the project is to be aware of the extent of errors occurring while filling up Medical Certificates of Cause of Death [MCCD]. A Retrospective, cross sectional study was undertaken at a rural teaching hospital in Karnataka, using 104 causes of death certificates issued between January 2016 and December 2016. At the time of death, the concerned departments will issue two copies of the cause of death certificates out of which one is sent to the registrar of births and deaths and the other copy will be sent to the Medical Records Department. The detailed analysis of the MCCD’s and autopsy reports of all the deaths which occurred in our hospital in the year 2016 yielded the following results. Out of a total of 104 certificates analysed, only 19(18%) of the 104 certificates were found to be completely filled and correct. A high incidence of errors was found in the study conducted which is an alarming but expected outcome. The incidence of errors needs to be minimized in order for the certificates to serve its purpose of being an important tool to obtain scientific and reliable information in terms of causes of mortality. The confusion regarding the terms ‘Cause of death’, ‘Manner of death’ and ‘Mode of death’ has been the major area of errors.

Keywords: Medical Certification of Cause of Death [MCCD]; Medical Certificate; Incidence of Errors

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