Abstract
BackgroundThe need to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to have access to reliable and timely mortality data has created a strong demand in countries for tools that can assist them in this. ANACONDA (Analysis of National Causes of Death for Action) is a new tool developed for this purpose which allows countries to assess how accurate their mortality and cause of death are. Applying ANACONDA will increase confidence and capacity among data custodians in countries about their mortality data and will give them insight into quality problems that will assist the improvement process.MethodsANACONDA builds on established epidemiological and demographic concepts to operationalise a series of 10 steps and numerous sub-steps to perform data checks. Extensive use is made of comparators to assess the plausibility of national mortality and cause of death statistics. The tool calculates a composite Vital Statistics Performance Index for Quality (VSPI(Q)) to measure how fit for purpose the data are. Extracts from analyses of country data are presented to show the types of outputs.ResultsEach of the 10 steps provides insight into how well the current data is describing different aspects of the mortality situation in the country, e.g. who dies of what, the completeness of the reporting, and the amount and types of unusable cause of death codes. It further identifies the exact codes that should not be used by the certifying physicians and their frequency, which makes it possible to institute a focused correction procedure. Finally, the VSPI(Q) allows periodic monitoring of data quality improvements and identifies priorities for action to strengthen the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system.ConclusionsANACONDA has demonstrated the potential to dramatically improve knowledge about disease patterns as well as the functioning of CRVS systems and has served as a platform for galvanising wider CRVS reforms in countries.
Highlights
The need to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to have access to reliable and timely mortality data has created a strong demand in countries for tools that can assist them in this
This paper describes the methods, structure, and concepts underlying ANACONDA and reports on its application potential in countries to guide health information system developments to improve mortality and cause of death (COD) data quality
ANACONDA is essentially built around the data quality dimensions which have been empirically identified by Philips et al [6] to determine the performance of vital statistics systems globally in a standardised and detailed way
Summary
The need to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to have access to reliable and timely mortality data has created a strong demand in countries for tools that can assist them in this. Mikkelsen et al [3] in their global analysis of CRVS systems suggested that the Vital Statistics Performance Index (VSPI) [6] could yield useful insights into which components of the mortality system are most in need of improvement efforts. Their analysis showed that those countries experiencing. Hospital data are the only source of information about mortality patterns; it is imperative that the data perform to the standards required to support good public policy
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