Maria Soledade Garcia Benedetti1,2, Salma Brito Saraty3,4, Alessandra Galvão Martins1, Marina Jorge de Miranda5, Daisy Maria Xavier de Abreu6. 1. Secretaria de Saúde do Estado de Roraima - Boa Vista (RR), Brasil. 2. Universidade Federal de Roraima - Boa Vista (RR), Brasil. 3. Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará - Belém (PA), Brasil. 4. Universidade do Estado do Pará - Belém (PA), Brasil. 5. Departamento de Análise em Saúde e Vigilância de Doenças não Transmissíveis, Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Ministério da Saúde - Brasília (DF), Brasil. 6. Núcleo de Educação em Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Belo Horizonte (MG), Brasil.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The term "garbage code" (GC) is used to designate an underlying cause of death that is not very useful for the health policy, since it does not adequately identify actions to prevent and control diseases and health problems. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the results of GC investigation on changing causes of death in 17 municipalities in the Brazilian Northern region in 2017. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study on the results of the investigation of deaths with GC in selected hospitals in 17 cities in the seven states of the Northern region, as part of the Data for Health Initiative of the Ministry of Health (MH). In these hospitals, the underlying causes of deaths occurring in 2017 were reviewed, and the GC investigation protocol was applied to deaths with GC. RESULTS: In 2017, 37,082 deaths occurred in the 17 municipalities studied, of which 29.3% (n = 10,878) were GC and 83.2% were priority GC. Among the priority GCs, 25.9% were investigated, of which 79.1% had a change in the underlying cause. DISCUSSION: There is great variation among the 17 municipalities in relation to the proportion of GC. In 13 of the municipalities studied, the underlying cause of death was reclassified in at least 70% of the cases investigated for the priority GC. CONCLUSION: Despite the improvement in reducing the proportion of underlying causes of death with GC in this study, there is still a need for greater investment in training professionals and increasing services to carry out death investigations, in order to ensure the sustainability of the project in the region.
INTRODUCTION: The term "garbage code" (GC) is used to designate an underlying cause of death that is not very useful for the health policy, since it does not adequately identify actions to prevent and control diseases and health problems. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the results of GC investigation on changing causes of death in 17 municipalities in the Brazilian Northern region in 2017. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study on the results of the investigation of deaths with GC in selected hospitals in 17 cities in the seven states of the Northern region, as part of the Data for Health Initiative of the Ministry of Health (MH). In these hospitals, the underlying causes of deaths occurring in 2017 were reviewed, and the GC investigation protocol was applied to deaths with GC. RESULTS: In 2017, 37,082 deaths occurred in the 17 municipalities studied, of which 29.3% (n = 10,878) were GC and 83.2% were priority GC. Among the priority GCs, 25.9% were investigated, of which 79.1% had a change in the underlying cause. DISCUSSION: There is great variation among the 17 municipalities in relation to the proportion of GC. In 13 of the municipalities studied, the underlying cause of death was reclassified in at least 70% of the cases investigated for the priority GC. CONCLUSION: Despite the improvement in reducing the proportion of underlying causes of death with GC in this study, there is still a need for greater investment in training professionals and increasing services to carry out death investigations, in order to ensure the sustainability of the project in the region.
Authors: Maria Yury Ichihara; Andrêa J F Ferreira; Camila S S Teixeira; Flávia Jôse O Alves; Aline Santos Rocha; Victor Hugo Dias Diógenes; Dandara Oliveira Ramos; Elzo Pereira Pinto Júnior; Renzo Flores-Ortiz; Leila Rameh; Lilia Carolina C da Costa; Marcos Roberto Gonzaga; Everton E C Lima; Ruth Dundas; Alastair Leyland; Maurício L Barreto Journal: Rev Saude Publica Date: 2022-10-10 Impact factor: 2.772