The purpose of this article was to quantify the amount of misclassification of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) mortality occurring in hospitals and other health facilities in three Brazilian state capitals, discuss potential factors contributing to this misclassification, and consider the implications for vital statistics. Hospital deaths assigned to causes classified as garbage code (GC) COVID-related cases (severe acute respiratory syndrome, pneumonia unspecified, sepsis, respiratory failure and ill-defined causes) were selected in three Brazilian state capitals. After extrapolating the study results for national GC-COVID-related deaths, the researchers inferred that the burden of COVID-19 disease in Brazil in official vital statistics was probably underestimated by at least 18% in the country in 2020.
Recent Abstracts
Policy Brief: Reducing Childhood Lead Poisoning in Indonesia
A content analysis of e-cigarette marketing on social media: Findings from the Tobacco…
Evaluation of two short standardized regimens for the treatment of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (STREAM…
Vital Strategies – RESET Alcohol Program
“Love with Less Salt”: evaluation of a sodium reduction mass media campaign in…
Vital Strategies – Cancer Registries Program
Report on Legal Framework Assessment on Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identification Management…
Integrated Use of Low-Cost Sensors to Strengthen Air Quality Management
Prioritizing Children: Environmental Health Indicators for China
Racial Disparities in United States Overdose Rates