Completeness and reliability of mortality data in Viet Nam: Implications for the national routine health management information system

Background: Mortality statistics form a crucial component of national Health Management Information Systems (HMIS). However, there are limitations in the availability and quality of mortality data at national level in Viet Nam. This study assessed the completeness of recorded deaths and the reliability of recorded causes of death (COD) in the A6 death registers in the national routine HMIS in Viet Nam. Methodology and findings: 1477 identified deaths in 2014 were reviewed in two provinces. A capture-recapture method was applied to assess the completeness of the A6 death registers. 1365 household verbal autopsy (VA) interviews were successfully conducted, and these were reviewed by physicians who assigned multiple and underlying cause of death (UCOD). These UCODs from VA were then compared with the CODs recorded in the A6 death registers, using kappa scores to assess the reliability of the A6 death register diagnoses. The overall completeness of the A6 death registers in the two provinces was 89.3% (95%CI: 87.8–90.8). No COD recorded in the A6 death registers demonstrated good reliability. There is very low reliability in recording of cardiovascular deaths (kappa for stroke = 0.47 and kappa for ischaemic heart diseases = 0.42) and diabetes (kappa = 0.33). The reporting of deaths due to road traffic accidents, HIV and some cancers are at a moderate level of reliability with kappa scores ranging between 0.57–0.69 (p