Table 3.

Signs and symptoms for surveillance of AIDS mortality, and the availability in INDEPTH—another widely used verbal autopsy questionnaire

Sign/symptom	Definition based on verbal autopsy question	Equivalent in INDEPTH VA questionnaire
Weight loss	Moderate or severe weight loss with no other symptoms of malnutrition	Yes
Herpes zoster	Ever suffered from zoster	Not specifically mentioned (shingles, zoster, herpes) but questions on rash, including where the rash is located (not if it is one-sided) and if the rash has blisters. No mention of pain during or after rash
Jaundice	Acute jaundice (yellowing of the whites of the eyes during the disease that lead to death) with fever and/or itching but without history of alcohol abuse	Yes
Vaginal tumours	Vaginal tumour for at least 1 month with or without bleeding	No
Wasting	Moderate or severe weight loss with at least four of the following symptoms: paleness, changing hair colour, oedema of legs, burning sensations of the feet, dry scaly skin	Two out of the five symptoms (but different phrasing): paleness oedema of ankles. No mention of changing hair colour, burning feet dry scaly skin (might be identified as rash)
Acute respiratory tract illness	Trouble breathing, cough lasting 3–27 days with fever but not recent TB, weight loss or wasting, as above	Partial cough, with duration fever shortness of breathing noisy breathing. TB—does not specify when
Abscesses or sores	Had abscesses or sores	No sores not mentioned, “other swellings or ulcers”
Oral candidiasis	Had two or three of the following: ulcers in the mouth, difficulty swallowing, white patches inside the mouth and tongue	No difficulty swallowing
Diarrhoeal disease	Loose stools lasting 3–99 days, with or without dehydration	Yes

TB, tuberculosis; VA, verbal autopsy.