Errors in death certificates in a rural area of Greece

Abstract

Giving the mechanism instead of the cause of death was the most frequent type of error. A statistically significant increase in the presence of errors was observed as the age of the descendent increased. During these 8 years, there has been a statistically significant decrease in errors. However, efforts should be made by trainers and physicians in order to improve the accuracy of the information in death certificates. If this is accomplished, cause-of-death statistics will be more accurate and so enable better health planning.