The Accuracy of Mortality Reporting in Displaced Persons Camps During the Post-emergency Phase

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3194483
AutoresPaul Spiegel (0000-0002-6158-6661, Johns Hopkins University), Paul B Spiegel, Mani Sheik (Johns Hopkins University), Bradley A Woodruff (0000-0002-1921-5592, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention), Gilbert Burnham (0000-0002-9991-4894, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention)
Ano2001
Volume25
Fascículo2
Páginas172-180
Data de publicação2001-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDisasters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-7717.00169
PMID11434236
OpenAlexW2123434136
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas14
Referências citadas3

For humanitarian organisations, accurate data are essential to identify emerging health problems and determine programme needs. We visited 45 post-emergency phase displaced persons camps and collected three months' mortality data which we compared with organisations' routine mortality reports. Organisations reported 612 deaths and we identified 741 deaths, for a mortality-reporting ratio, defined as the number of organisation-reported deaths divided by the number of investigator-identified deaths, of 83 per cent. For the majority of camps which under-reported deaths, mortality reporting ratios were significantly higher for women than men, and for camps with central mortality registers rather than those without. In the few camps which over-reported deaths, these occurred primarily among children younger than five years of age, probably due to the inclusion of abortions and stillbirths. Despite the overall under-reporting of deaths by humanitarian organisations, the existing health information systems appear to estimate mortality rates adequately in these post-emergency camps. However, organisations should improve the precision and completeness with which they report the characteristics of deaths in order to provide valuable data to target their programmes at the most vulnerable people

Environmental health · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Mortality rate · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Under-reporting · Demography · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Health and Conflict Studies · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Surgery