title: Causes of death among adults in northern Ethiopia: evidence from verbal autopsy data in health and demographic surveillance system.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In countries where registration of vital events is lacking and the proportion of people who die at home without medical care is high, verbal autopsy is used to determine and estimate causes of death.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted 723 verbal autopsy interviews of adult (15 years of age and above) deaths from September 2009 to January 2013. Trained physicians interpreted the collected verbal autopsy data, and assigned causes of death according to the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). We did analysis of specific as well as broad causes of death (i.e. non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases and external causes of death) by sex and age using Stata version 11.1. We performed logistic regression to identify socio-demographic predictors using odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and a p-value of 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tuberculosis, cerebrovascular diseases and accidental falls were leading specific causes of death accounting for 15.9%, 7.3% and 3.9% of all deaths. Two hundred sixty three (36.4% [95% CI: 32.9, 39.9]), 252 (34.9% [95% CI: 31.4, 38.4]) and 89 (12.3% [95% CI: 10.1, 14.9]) deaths were due to non-communicable, communicable diseases, and external causes, respectively. Females had 1.5 times (AOR = 1.53 [95% CI: 1.10, 2.15]) higher odds of dying due to communicable diseases than males. The odds of dying due to external causes were 4 times higher among 15-49 years of age (AOR  = 4.02 [95% CI: 2.25, 7.18]) compared to older ages. Males also had 1.7 times (AOR = 1.70 [95% CI: 1.01, 2.85]) higher odds of dying due to external causes than females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tuberculosis, cerebrovascular diseases and accidental falls were the top three causes of death among adults. Efforts to prevent tuberculosis and cerebrovascular diseases related deaths should be improved and safety efforts to reduce accidents should also receive attention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yohannes Adama
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Melaku
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Berhe Weldearegawi
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Sahle
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Fisaha Haile
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Tesfay
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Afework Mulugeta
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bezabih
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Alemseged
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aregay
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Semaw Ferede
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Abera
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Loko
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abreha
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
authors.forename: Gordon Alexander
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Zello
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods*; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*