Abstract
BackgroundThe 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.MethodsUnderlying 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.ResultsA 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%).ConclusionsIn 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.
Highlights
Global reports use the underlying cause of death to inform death trends and profiles (GBD 2016 Causes of Death Collaborators, 2017)
Of the selected underlying cause of death, diabetes accounted for 1.1%, chronic kidney disease (CKD) for 2.0%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for 1.7%, HTN for 2.4%, and cancers for 6.4%
Final causes of death Communicable diseases accounted for the largest share (60.0%; 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) [59.4–60.5%]), followed by cardiovascular (29.8%; 95% CI [29.2–30.3%]) and cancers (10.3%; 95% CI [9.9–10.6%])
Summary
Global reports use the underlying cause of death to inform death trends and profiles (GBD 2016 Causes of Death Collaborators, 2017). This approach is relevant from a public health perspective because delaying or avoiding the underlying cause would prevent the chain of. A divergence between underlying and final causes of death in selected conditions: an analysis of death registries in Peru. We aimed to describe the final causes of death of selected underlying causes using national death registries in Peru, 2015. We studied what final causes of death were most common among selected underlying causes using national death registries in Peru, 2015. 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%). Efforts should be deployed to prevent underlying non-communicable diseases, potential communicable complications should not be neglected
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