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.