Using mortuary statistics in the development of an injury surveillance system in Ghana.
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.
London
Jason
J
Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, USA.
Mock
Charles
C
Abantanga
Francis A
FA
Quansah
Robert E
RE
Boateng
K A
KA
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*