Table 1.

Grading scale used to assess death certificate errors

Grade 0	No errors
Grade IA	incomplete/inaccurate demographics
Grade IB	Whether the signatory attended the patient could not be confirmed
Grade II	Co-morbidities list incomplete
Grade III	Co-morbidities not listed
Grade IV	Inappropriate immediate cause of death or only a mechanism(s) of death (or mode of dying) given *
Grade V	Underlying cause(s) of death was incorrectly attributed or placed in an improper sequence

*Since multiple diseases can cause death by the same mechanism, mechanism of death usually provides little useful information [21].