Analysis of causes of death among advanced schistosomiasis patients in Jiaxing City from 2010 to 2020

Abstract

To analyze the cause of death among patients with advanced schistosomiasis in Jiaxing City of Zhejiang Province from 2000 to 2020. The medical records of 167 dead patients with advanced schistosomiasis that were registered in Jiaxing First Hospital and received national medical assistance program from 2010 to 2020 were collected, and compared with the data of advanced schistosomiasis patients without national medical assistance program in the same city from 1998 to 2008. Among the 167 advanced schistosomiasis patients in Jiaxing City during the period from 2010 to 2020, the four most common causes of death included liver failure (22.16%), upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (17.37%), hepatic encephalopathy (14.97%) and liver cancer (14.37%), and the dead patients were predominantly at ages of 70 to 74 years, with a mean age of 74.8 years. The four most common causes of death included upper gastrointestinal bleeding (34.16%), hepatic encephalopathy (22.28%), unexplained causes (22.28%) and liver failure (4.46%) among advanced schistosomiasis patients without national medical assistance in Jiaxing City from 1998 to 2008, and the dead patients were predominantly at ages of 60 to 69 years, with a mean age of 69.3 years. There were significant differences between patients detected from 2010 to 2020 and from 1998 to 2008 in terms of causes of death (χ2 = 63.42, P = 0.00) and age of death (χ2 = 50.09, P = 0.00). There are significant changes in the cause of death among patients with advanced schistosomiasis in Jiaxing City from 2010-2020, which may be attributed to the implementation of the national medical assistance program.