Accuracy Rate of Underlying Cause of Death Coding in Educational Hospitals of Bandar Abbas, Iran

Coding underlying cause of death is associated with both written information on death certificate and interpretation of rules about coding cause of death by coder. This study aimed to review the cause of death coding accuracy in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (Hormozgan، Iran). This was a descriptive cross-sectional study which was performed in 2010-2011 for six months. The study population included the death certificates of all the deceased in Shahid Mohammadi Educational Hospital (n = 345) and Pediatrics Educational Hospital (n = 59). First، information of death certificates was written on new forms. Then، the residents of the clinical wards determined the sequences and then the researcher took action for recoding death certificates and comparing his codes by original coders. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Coding accuracy rate in Shahid Mohammadi Hospital، Pediatrics Hospital and in total were 51. 7%، 54% and 52. 1%، respectively. Coding accuracy had a statistically significant association with International Classification of Diseases Tenth Edition (ICD-10) chapters، number of lines and languages used for completing death certificates. The best status of coding was in chapters of genitourinary system diseases (87. 5 percent) and neoplasms (69. 4%). The worst condition was in chapters of external causes (21. 4%) and endocrine، nutritional and metabolic diseases. The most application (36%) and the best coding status (65% accuracy) belonged to general rule. Rule 3 was the most erroneous (85%) and neoplasms coding rules had been observed at rate 65. 7%. Coding cause of death in these hospitals had not desirable status and education is essential for both physicians (regarding how to complete the death certificate) and coders (about rules of selecting and coding underlying cause of death).