Unified Mobile App for Streamlining Verbal Autopsy and Cause of Death Assignment in India: Design and Development Study.

Abstract

Background: Verbal autopsy (VA) has been a crucial tool in ascertaining population-level cause of death (COD) estimates, specifically in countries where medical certification of COD is relatively limited. The World Health Organization has released an updated instrument (Verbal Autopsy Instrument 2022) that supports electronic data collection methods along with analytical software for assigning COD. This questionnaire encompasses the primary signs and symptoms associated with prevalent diseases across all age groups. Traditional methods have primarily involved paper-based questionnaires and physician-coded approaches for COD assignment, which is time-consuming and resource-intensive. Although computer-coded algorithms have advanced the COD assignment process, data collection in densely populated countries like India remains a logistical challenge.

Objective: This study aimed to develop an Android-based mobile app specifically tailored for streamlining VA data collection by leveraging the existing Indian public health workforce. The app has been designed to integrate real-time data collection by frontline health workers and seamless data transmission and digital reporting of COD by physicians. This process aimed to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of COD assignment through VA.

Methods: The app was developed using Android Studio, the primary integrated development environment for developing Android apps using Java. The front-end interface was developed using XML, while SQLite and MySQL were employed to streamline complete data storage on the local and server databases, respectively. The communication between the app and the server was facilitated through a PHP application programming interface to synchronize data from the local to the server database. The complete prototype was specifically built to reduce manual intervention and automate VA data collection.

Results: The app was developed to align with the current Indian public health system for district-level COD estimation. By leveraging this mobile app, the average duration required for VA data collection to ascertainment of COD, which typically ranges from 6 to 8 months, is expected to decrease by approximately 80%, reducing it to about 1-2 months. Based on annual caseload projections, the smallest administrative public health unit, health and wellness centers, is anticipated to handle 35-40 VA cases annually, while medical officers at primary health centers are projected to manage 150-200 physician-certified VAs each year. The app's data collection and transmission efficiency were further improved based on feedback from user and subject area experts.

Conclusions: The development of a unified mobile app could streamline the VA process, enabling the generation of accurate national and subnational COD estimates. This mobile app can be further piloted and scaled to different regions to integrate the automated VA model into the existing public health system for generating comprehensive mortality statistics in India.