A divergence between underlying and final causes of death in selected conditions: an analysis of death registries in Peru

PeerJ

article

Rodrigo M. Carrillo-Larco¹  Antonio Bernabe-Ortiz² 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London;CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia;Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London;Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas

关键词: Cause of death;    Mortality;    Cardiovascular diseases;    Non-communicable diseases;    Communicable diseases;    Peru;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5948

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background The underlying cause of death is used to study country and global mortality trends and profiles. The final cause of death could also inform the ultimately cause of death in individuals with underlying conditions. Whether there is a pattern between the underlying and final cause of death has not been explored using national death registries. We studied what final causes of death were most common among selected underlying causes using national death registries in Peru, 2015. Methods Underlying and final causes of death were classified according to their ICD-10 codes. Underlying causes included chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension (HTN), diabetes, and selected cancers (cervix, breast, stomach, prostate, and lung). Final causes were categorized as: communicable, cardiovascular, and cancers. Descriptive statistics were used. Results A total of 77,065 death registries were analyzed; cases had a mean age of 69.4 (SD: 19.3) years at death and were mostly men (53.9%). When the underlying cause was HTN, the most frequent final cause was cardiovascular diseases (82.3%). For all the other underlying causes, the most frequent final cause was communicable diseases: COPD (86.4%), CKD (79.3%), cancer (76.5%), and diabetes (68.3%). Conclusions In four selected underlying causes of death there was a divergence with respect to the final cause, suggesting there was a shift from non-communicable to communicable causes. Although efforts should be deployed to prevent underlying non-communicable diseases, potential communicable complications should not be neglected.

【 授权许可】

CC BY