Figure 3

Cause of death (COD) data in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study for selected countries. The GBD measured the major COD types in 110 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) based on data available from national surveys with verbal autopsy (VA) in five countries; final results were based on a ratio of estimated to actual COD data that was less than 0.12% (or about 1 in 850). Most health measurements rely on disability estimates as opposed to mortality, and measurement error often exceeds the desired change in health outcomes following an intervention. For example, in seeking a 10% improvement in health outcomes in children under 5 years of age, it is not possible to accurately assess the outcome of an intervention if the measurement error exceeds 10%. By contrast, as death is a discernible, objective outcome, restricting analyses to mortality significantly reduces measurement error [1, 28].