{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:33:34Z","timestamp":1787031214621,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"African Journals Online (AJOL)","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["gmj"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: This study audited the Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) forms issued at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, assessing their accuracy, completeness, and consistency while analysing trends in mortality causes.Design: Retrospective review of completed MCCD forms.Setting: Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Department of Medicine.Participants: All duplicate MCCD forms issued between January 1st, 2019, and December 31st, 2023, were included.Interventions: No interventionMain outcome measures: Frequency of major and minor errors in completing the MCCD forms and leading causes of death in the department.Results: Of 4,544 MCCD forms audited, 4,460 (98.17%) contained errors. Major errors were observed in 4,028 (88.64%) forms; the commonest being incorrect reporting of the underlying cause of death (3,483; 76.65%). Minor errors were nearly universal (99.82%), with omission of the full address of the deceased (4,530; 99.69%) being most frequent. Over half of the recorded deaths each year were attributable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with cardiovascular-related conditions being the leading cause of death.Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of errors in MCCD forms, highlighting the need for regular training of healthcare professionals to improve accuracy in death certification. Additionally, the high burden of NCD -related deaths emphasises the need to address modifiable risk factors, strengthen health systems, and foster multisectoral collaboration to mitigate the growing NCD epidemic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4314\/gmj.v59i3.2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T12:59:36Z","timestamp":1760101176000},"page":"111-120","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessment of errors in death certification and mortality patterns and trends among medical patients at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, 2019-2023"],"prefix":"10.4314","volume":"59","author":[{"given":"Francis","family":"Agyekum","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabella","family":"E. Asamoah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhyideen","family":"Bashir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nana","family":"A. Asante","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khushali","family":"Ganatra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fiifi","family":"Duodu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Florence","family":"K. Akumiah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Brodie-Mends","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kofi","family":"T. Asamoah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eugene","family":"B. Ampofo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alfred","family":"Doku","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2895","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]},"container-title":["Ghana Medical Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajol.info\/index.php\/gmj\/article\/download\/306193\/287845","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajol.info\/index.php\/gmj\/article\/download\/306193\/287845","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T12:59:38Z","timestamp":1760101178000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajol.info\/index.php\/gmj\/article\/view\/306193"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4314\/gmj.v59i3.2","relation":{},"ISSN":["0016-9560"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0016-9560","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]}}}