title: Using mortuary statistics in the development of an injury surveillance system in Ghana.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop, in a mortuary setting, a pilot programme for improving the accuracy of records of deaths caused by injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  The recording of injury-related deaths was upgraded at the mortuary of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana, in 1996 through the creation of a prospectively gathered database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was an increase in the number of deaths reported annually as attributable to injury from 72 before 1995 to 633 in 1996-99. Injuries accounted for 8.6% of all deaths recorded in the mortuary and for 12% of deaths in the age range 15-59 years; 80% of deaths caused by injury occurred outside the hospital and thus would not have been indicated in hospital statistics; 88% of injury-related deaths were associated with transport, and 50% of these involved injuries to pedestrians.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Injury was a significant cause of mortality in this urban African setting, especially among adults of working age. The reporting of injury-related deaths in a mortuary was made more complete and accurate by means of simple inexpensive methods. This source of data could make a significant contribution to an injury surveillance system, along with hospital records and police accident reports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, USA.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: London
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mock
authors.forename: Francis A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Abantanga
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Quansah
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Boateng
mesh_terms: D002423:Cause of Death; D003625:Data Collection; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D009027:Mortuary Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*