UNDERLYING CAUSE OF DEATH
Causes of death statistics in Australia are recorded as both underlying cause i.e. the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death; and multiple cause i.e. all causes and conditions reported on the death certificate that contributed to, were associated with, or was the underlying cause of the death (see Glossary for further details).
Only underlying cause of death is presented for 2009 doctor certified deaths in this publication. Information on multiple cause of death for all deaths will be included in Causes of Death, Australia, 2009 (cat. no. 3303.0).
All deaths registered in 2009 have been coded using the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) as released by the World Health Organization (WHO).
1 Selected underlying causes of death - 2008 and 2009(a)(b)(c)(d) |
|
 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Total (b)(c) | Dr cert | Proportion of total | Proportion by cause | Dr cert | Proportion of total |
| Cause of death and ICD-10 code | no. | no. | % | % | no. | % |
|
| Infectious diseases (A00-B99) | 1 935 | 1 829 | 1.3 | 94.5 | 1 678 | 1.2 |
| Cancer (C00-D48) | 42 418 | 41 596 | 28.9 | 98.1 | 41 142 | 29.2 |
| Blood and immunity disorders (D50-D89) | 503 | 470 | 0.3 | 93.4 | 397 | 0.3 |
| Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90) | 5 900 | 5 567 | 3.9 | 94.4 | 5 506 | 3.9 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99) | 6 406 | 6 073 | 4.2 | 94.8 | 6 235 | 4.4 |
| Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99) | 5 961 | 5 654 | 3.9 | 94.8 | 5 569 | 4.0 |
| Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59) | 12 | 10 | - | 83.3 | 5 | - |
| Diseases of the ear and mastoid process (H60-H95) | np | np | np | np | 1 | - |
| Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (I00-I99) | 48 456 | 41 694 | 29.0 | 86.0 | 39 395 | 28.0 |
| Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99) | 11 260 | 10 547 | 7.3 | 93.7 | 10 275 | 7.3 |
| Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K93) | 4 939 | 4 239 | 2.9 | 85.8 | 4 313 | 3.1 |
| Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L99) | 401 | 381 | 0.3 | 95.0 | 367 | 0.3 |
| Diseases of the muscles, bones and tendons (M00-M99) | 1 179 | 1 086 | 0.8 | 92.1 | 967 | 0.7 |
| Diseases of the kidney and urinary system (N00-N99) | 3 319 | 3 193 | 2.2 | 96.2 | 3 294 | 2.3 |
| Pregnancy and childbirth (O00-O99) | np | np | np | np | 3 | - |
| Conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96) | 595 | 534 | 0.4 | 89.7 | 612 | 0.4 |
| Congenital and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99) | 609 | 505 | 0.4 | 82.9 | 523 | 0.4 |
| Ill-defined causes (R00-R99) | 1 243 | 378 | 0.3 | 30.4 | 339 | 0.2 |
| External causes (V01-Y98) | 8 804 | 1 521 | 1.1 | 17.3 | 1 486 | 1.1 |
| Total doctor certified deaths | . . | 125 278 | 87.0 | . . | 122 106 | 86.7 |
| Total coroner certified deaths | . . | 18 668 | 13.0 | . . | 18 654 | 13.3 |
| Total deaths | 143 946 | 143 946 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 140 760 | 100.0 |
|
| . . not applicable |
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated |
| (a) Data cells with small numbers have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. It is important to note that cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation. |
| (b) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See 3303.0 Causes of death, Australia, 2008 Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process. |
| (c) 2008 data have been subject to process improvements which have increased the quality of these data. See 3303.0 Causes of death, Australia, 2008 Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information. |
| (d) 2009 total deaths by cause are unavailable because the number of 2009 coroner certified deaths by ICD-10 code are not final. |
The following section presents information about those causes with a high proportion of doctor certified deaths. Care should be taken in interpreting these results as they exclude any deaths which have been referred to a coroner for investigation, and may be affected by volatility when there are a small number of deaths for specific causes.
2 Doctor certified deaths by cause of death - 2008 and 2009 |
|
| 2008 | 2009 | change |
| Cause of death and ICD-10 code | no. | no. | % |
|
| Infectious diseases (A00-B99) | 1 829 | 1 678 | -8.3 |
| Cancer (C00-D48) | 41 596 | 41 142 | -1.1 |
| Blood and immunity disorders (D50-D89) | 470 | 397 | -15.5 |
| Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90) | 5 567 | 5 506 | -1.1 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99) | 6 073 | 6 235 | 2.7 |
| Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99) | 5 654 | 5 569 | -1.5 |
| Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59) | 10 | 5 | -50.0 |
| Diseases of the ear and mastoid process (H60-H95) | np | - | - |
| Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (I00-I99) | 41 694 | 39 395 | -5.5 |
| Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99) | 10 547 | 10 275 | -2.6 |
| Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K93) | 4 239 | 4 313 | 1.7 |
| Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L99) | 381 | 367 | -3.7 |
| Diseases of the muscles, bones and tendons (M00-M99) | 1 086 | 967 | -11.0 |
| Diseases of the kidney and urinary system (N00-N99) | 3 193 | 3 294 | 3.2 |
| Pregnancy and childbirth (O00-O99) | np | 3 | np |
| Conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96) | 534 | 612 | 14.6 |
| Congenital and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99) | 505 | 523 | 3.6 |
| Ill-defined causes (R00-R99) | 378 | 339 | -10.3 |
| External causes (V01-Y98) | 1 521 | 1 486 | -2.3 |
| Total doctor certified deaths | 125 278 | 122 106 | -2.5 |
|
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated |
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