Cause of death during 2009-2012, using a probabilistic model (InterVA-4): an experience from Ballabgarh Health and Demographic Surveillance System in India.
OBJECTIVE
The present study aimed to estimate the age and cause-specific mortality in Ballabgarh Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site for the years 2009 to 2012, using a probabilistic model (InterVA-4).


METHODS
All Deaths in Ballabgarh HDSS from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2012, were included in the study. InterVA-4 model (version 4.02) was used for assigning cause of death (COD). Data from the verbal autopsy (VA) tool were extracted and processed with the InterVA-4 model. Cause-specific mortality rate (CSMR) per 1,000 person-years was calculated.


RESULTS
A total of 2,459 deaths occurred in the HDSS during the year 2009 to 2012. Among them, 2,174 (88.4%) valid VA interviews were conducted. Crude death rate ranged from 7.1 (2009) to 6.4 (2012) per 1,000 population. The CSMR per 1,000 person-years over the years (2009-2012) for non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, trauma, neoplasm, and maternal and neonatal diseases were 1.78, 1.68, 0.68, 0.49, and 0.48, respectively. The most common causes of death among children, adults, and the elderly were infectious diseases, trauma, and non-communicable diseases, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, non-communicable diseases constituted the largest proportion of mortality, whereas trauma was the most common COD among adults at Ballabgarh HDSS. Policy-makers ought to focus on prevention of premature CODs, especially prevention of infectious diseases in children, and intentional self-harm and road traffic accidents in the adult population.
INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Sanjay K
SK
Rai
INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Shashi
S
Kant
INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Puneet
P
Misra
INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India; drsrivastava.rahul@gmail.com.
Rahul
R
Srivastava
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Chandrakant S
CS
Pandav
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001344:Autopsy; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012424:Rural Population; D012984:Software
Ballabgarh; HDSS; InterVA-4; cause of death; mortality; rural India; verbal autopsy