Cause of Death Definition

What is meant by Cause of Death?

The sequence of medical conditions that had the greatest impact on causing death plus the time interval between the onset of each condition and death constitutes the official definition "Cause of Death."

Conditions of death are not causes

Terms such as cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary arrest, respiratory arrest, and asystole are used to define death and should not be included in the cause of death section.

Non-specific causes require an etiology

Non-specific conditions such as sepsis, paraplegia, renal failure, or hypotension should not be entered in the Cause of Death section without an explanation of why they occurred.

Any condition written in the cause of death section should be described as completely as possible.

Conditions of death, such as cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary arrest, respiratory arrest and asystole, are used to define death and should not be entered in the cause of death section.

Conditions such as sepsis, paraplegia, renal failure, or hypotension do not occur without a cause, but have many possible etiologies or predisposing factors. They should not be entered in the cause of death section without an explanation of why they occurred.

If you cannot be more exact, use terms such as "undetermined," "probable," or "presumed" to qualify conditions as needed.