title: Causes of death in the Taabo health and demographic surveillance system, Côte d'Ivoire, from 2009 to 2011.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Current vital statistics from governmental institutions in Côte d'Ivoire are incomplete. This problem is particularly notable for remote rural areas that have limited access to the health system.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To record all deaths from 2009 to 2011 and to identify the leading causes of death in the Taabo health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) in south-central Côte d'Ivoire.
  
  
  METHODS
  Deaths recorded in the first 3 years of operation of the Taabo HDSS were investigated by verbal autopsy (VA), using the InterVA-4 model. InterVA-4 is based on the World Health Organization 2012 VA tool in terms of input indicators and categories of causes of death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 948 deaths were recorded, of which 236 (24.9%) had incomplete VA data. Among the 712 deaths analyzed, communicable diseases represented the leading causes (58.9%), with most deaths attributed to malaria (n=129), acute respiratory tract infections (n=110), HIV/AIDS (n=80), and pulmonary tuberculosis (n=46). Non-communicable diseases accounted for 18.9% of the deaths and included mainly acute abdomen (n=38), unspecified cardiac diseases (n=15), and digestive neoplasms (n=13). Maternal and neonatal conditions accounted for 8.3% of deaths, primarily pneumonia (n=19) and birth asphyxia (n=16) in newborns. Among the 3.8% of deaths linked to trauma and injury, the main causes were assault (n=6), accidental drowning (n=4), contact with venomous plants/animals (n=4), and traffic-related accidents (n=4). No clear causes were determined in 10.0% of the analyzed deaths.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Communicable diseases remain the predominant cause of death in rural Côte d'Ivoire. Based on these findings, measures are now being implemented in the Taabo HDSS. It will be interesting to monitor patterns of mortality and causes of death in the face of rapid demographic and epidemiological transitions in this part of West Africa.
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; kone_siaka0@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Siaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koné
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.|Centre for Health Policy, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.|Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fürst
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.|Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fabienne N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Emmanuel L J C
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Esso
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Nahoua
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baïkoro
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Kouamé A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kouadio
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Générale de Taabo, Taabo Cité, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Lukas G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Adiossan
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.|Fairmed, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zouzou
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Louis I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Boti
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jürg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utzinger
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Bassirou
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bonfoh
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Daouda
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dao
authors.affiliation: Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.|Unité de Formation et de Recherche Biosciences, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Eliézer K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: N'Goran
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire / Q000453:epidemiology; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Côte d'Ivoire; InterVA-4; cause of death; health and demographic surveillance system; mortality; verbal autopsy