Causes of death among persons of all ages within the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Kenya, determined from verbal autopsies interpreted using the InterVA-4 model.
BACKGROUND
The vast majority of deaths in the Kilifi study area are not recorded through official systems of vital registration. As a result, few data are available regarding causes of death in this population.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the causes of death (CODs) among residents of all ages within the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) on the coast of Kenya.


METHODS
Verbal autopsies (VAs) were conducted using the 2007 World Health Organization (WHO) standard VA questionnaires, and VA data further transformed to align with the 2012 WHO VA instrument. CODs were then determined using the InterVA-4 computer-based probabilistic model.


RESULTS
Five thousand one hundred and eighty seven deaths were recorded between January 2008 and December 2011. VA interviews were completed for 4,460 (86%) deaths. Neonatal pneumonia and birth asphyxia were the main CODs in neonates; pneumonia and malaria were the main CODs among infants and children aged 1-4, respectively, while HIV/AIDS was the main COD for adult women of reproductive age. Road traffic accidents were more commonly observed among men than women. Stroke and neoplasms were common CODs among the elderly over the age of 65.


CONCLUSIONS
We have established the main CODs among people of all ages within the area served by the KHDSS on the coast of Kenya using the 2007 WHO VA questionnaire coded using InterVA-4. We hope that our data will allow local health planners to estimate the burden of various diseases and to allocate their limited resources more appropriately.
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya; INDEPTH Network of Demographic Surveillance Sites, Accra, Ghana; cndila@kemri-wellcome.org.
Carolyne
C
Ndila
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya; INDEPTH Network of Demographic Surveillance Sites, Accra, Ghana.
Evasius
E
Bauni
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya; INDEPTH Network of Demographic Surveillance Sites, Accra, Ghana.
George
G
Mochamah
United Nation Statistics Division, New York, NY, USA.
Vysaul
V
Nyirongo
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
Alex
A
Makazi
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
Patrick
P
Kosgei
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
Benjamin
B
Tsofa
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya; INDEPTH Network of Demographic Surveillance Sites, Accra, Ghana.
Gideon
G
Nyutu
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
Anthony
A
Etyang
Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umea University, Umeå, Sweden.
Peter
P
Byass
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya; INDEPTH Network of Demographic Surveillance Sites, Accra, Ghana; Department of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK.
Thomas N
TN
Williams
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
InterVA-4; Kenya; cause-specific mortality fraction; verbal autopsy