a study on the methods and rules about registration, completion, issuance and collection of death certificates in esfahan province in 1381

introduction: it is necessary to have exact, complete and up-to-date information about death of people in a society. this information can be useful in planning, determining priorities, distributing facilities, allocating budgets and rendering health care services justly. in this study, the methods and rules about registration, completion, issuances and collection of death certificates in esfahan province in 1381 are identified and a suitable model is presented for a standard death certificate and methods for the collection of death certificates. materials and methods: this is a cross-sectional, descriptive study in which the data were collected by checklist, observation, interview and information sources such as books, documents and the staff working in health care centers in esfahan province. results & discussion: the findings revealed that there was no standard local form as death certificate in esfahan province to help us collect accurate information about the rate of death. physicians issued death certificate on prescription sheets with desired dictation. legal medicine organization issued death certificate on “permit burial”. hospitals issue death certificate on forms that are not standard. as a result, we cannot collect, accurate, adequate and due information about the cause of death. based on the previous and present findings, there is an urgent need to approve a standard death certificate from and print and distribute it in physicians offices, hospitals, health care centers and clinics and to collect these forms with the cooperation of the involved organizations in due time.