Causes of Death
Page tools: | ||
NAME OF ORGANISATION PURPOSE Availability of high quality death statistics, and consequently population estimates and mortality data, is of importance to all levels of government (Commonwealth, State and Local). High quality mortality statistics are used as a fundamental measure of the health of the population. SCOPE
With exception to the statistics published by Year of Occurrence, all deaths referred to in the Causes of Death publication relate to the number of deaths registered, not those which actually occurred, in the years shown. Scope The scope for each reference year of the death registrations includes:
From 2007 onwards, data for a particular reference year includes all deaths registered in Australia for the reference year that are received by the ABS by the end of the March quarter of the subsequent year. Death records received by the ABS during the March quarter of 2017 which were initially registered in 2016 (but for which registration was not fully completed until 2017) were assigned to the 2016 reference year. Any registrations relating to 2016 which were received by the ABS from April 2017 will be assigned to the 2017 reference year. Prior to 2007, the scope for the reference year of the Death Registrations collection included:
The ABS Causes of Death collection includes all deaths that occurred and were registered in Australia, including deaths of persons whose usual residence is overseas. Deaths of Australian residents that occurred outside Australia may be registered by individual Registrars, but are not included in ABS deaths or causes of death statistics. Deaths registered on Norfolk Island from 1 July 2016 are included in this publication for the first time. This is due to the introduction of the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015. Norfolk Island deaths are included in statistics for "Other Territories" as well as totals for all of Australia. Deaths registered on Norfolk Island prior to 1 July 2016 were not in scope for death statistics. The current scope of the statistics includes:
The scope of the statistics excludes:
Scope of perinatal death statistics The scope of perinatal death statistics includes all fetal deaths (at least 20 weeks' gestation or at least 400 grams' birth weight) and neonatal deaths (all live born babies who die within 28 completed days of birth, regardless of gestation or birth weight). Fetal deaths are registered only as a stillbirth, and are not in scope of either the Births, Australia (cat. no. 3301.0) or Deaths, Australia (cat. no. 3302.0) collections. Fetal deaths are part of the Perinatal collection, but not the Causes of Death collection. Neonatal deaths are in scope of the Deaths, Causes of Death and Perinatal collections. DATA DETAIL Conceptual framework Deaths registered in the reference year are coded using the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). All morbid conditions, diseases and injuries entered on the death certificate are coded. These include those involved in the morbid train of events leading to death which were classified as either the underlying cause, the immediate cause, or any intervening causes and those conditions which contributed to death, but were not related to the disease or condition causing death. For deaths where the underlying cause was identified as an external cause (injury or poisoning) multiple causes include circumstances of injury, the nature of injury as well as any other conditions reported on the death certificate. Main outputs Main outputs include underlying cause of death, multiple causes of death and perinatal deaths by: reference year and year of occurrence; geography; and demographic characteristics (including age, sex, country of birth and Indigenous status). Classifications Socio-Demographic Classifications A range of socio-demographic data is available from the causes of death collection. Standard classifications used in the presentation of causes of death statistics include age, sex, country of birth, and Indigenous status. Statistical standards for social and demographic variables have been developed by the ABS. Where these are not released in the Causes of Death published outputs, they can be sourced on request from the ABS. Geographic Classifications
International Classification of Diseases (ICD) The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the international standard classification for epidemiological purposes and is designed to promote international comparability in the collection, processing, classification, and presentation of cause of death statistics. The classification is used to classify diseases and causes of disease or injury as recorded on many types of medical records as well as death records. The ICD has been revised periodically to incorporate changes in the medical field. Currently the ICD 10th revision is used for Australian cause of death statistics.
For example, a systemic disease such as sepsis is grouped with infectious diseases; a disease primarily affecting one body system, such as a myocardial infarction, is grouped with circulatory diseases; and a congenital condition, such as spina bifida, is grouped with congenital conditions. For further information about the ICD refer to WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The various versions of the ICD 10th Revision are available online.
Other concepts (summary) GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL Australia New South Wales Victoria Queensland South Australia Western Australia Tasmania Northern Territory ACT Statistical Local Area Other (specify below) Comments and/or Other Regions Rest of State Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4) Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3) Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2) Local Governments Areas Remoteness Areas COLLECTION FREQUENCY Annually Frequency comments Information is collected from the relevant State and Territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages on a monthly basis. Causes of Death statistics have been produced since the early 1900's using various versions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Each State/Territory office of the ABS was responsible for the collection and processing of causes of death data registered with that State/Territory until 1993, when this function was centralised in the Brisbane office of the ABS. Prior to 1997, only the underlying cause of death was coded, but with the adoption of the US-developed Mortality Medical Data Software (MMDS), all causes of death, as well as underlying cause, were coded for 1997 and subsequent years. The adoption of MMDS caused a break in the underlying cause of death statistical series due to differing coding interpretations inherent in the US software. ICD-10 was introduced for the 1999 processing cycle and applied to data from 1997. Comparability factors to allow comparison between ICD-9 and ICD-10 have been developed and published by the ABS. From the 2013 reference year onwards, new automated coding software called Iris was implemented to replace MMDS. This enabled the ABS to apply a series of ICD-10 updates, bringing the coding of Australian mortality data up to date with international best practice. A review of coding practices was also undertaken at this time, focusing on maximising compliance with coding rules detailed in Volume 2 of the ICD-10. See ABS Implementation of the Iris Software: Understanding Coding and Process Improvements (Technical Note) in Causes of Death, Australia, 2013 (cat.no. 3303.0) for further details. DATA AVAILABILITY Yes Data availability comments Further information about cause of death statistics can be obtained by contacting the National Information Referral Service on 1300 135 070. A national causes of death unit record file can be obtained through the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (data is available on application for legitimate research purposes only). DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT 26/09/2018 07:37 AM Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
|