Statistics on mortality and cause of death are of crucial importance to epidemiological research. The Cause of Death Register kept by Statistics Norway is the only national register including information on cause of death for all deceased persons registered as residents in Norway at their time of death, whether death occurred in Norway or abroad. This article presents historical information and guidelines for research access to individual data on cause of death.
Chain of care for patients with intentional self-harm was important in the Norwegian national action plan to prevent suicide. In this study there were two aims: (1) to calculate the potential effects of chain of care on reducing suicide rates, and (2) to assess whether suicide rates decreased more in areas where chain of care had been implemented than in other areas. We observed no differences in changes in suicide rates between areas with and without the intervention. The calculated potential effects of chain of care on national suicide rates were very small, even under unrealistically favorable conditions.
This study investigates whether changes in registration and coding practices influenced official suicide rates in Norway from 1988 to 2002.
A Poisson regression model was used to evaluate rates of suicide and potentially competing underlying causes of death. Setting in Norway 1988-2002.
From 1988 to 1994, suicide mortality decreased significantly, by 23.7%. Simultaneously, rates of causes of death potentially masking suicide decreased or remained fairly stable. From 1994 to 2002, however, there were no significant changes in suicide rates but accidental poisoning, which may mask suicide, increased significantly by 32.4%. Also, "ill-defined causes" of death increased by 16.7%, indicating poorer data quality.
This study suggests that the decreasing suicide rate in 1988-94 reflects a real change. However, the general quality of mortality statistics has deteriorated since the late 1990s, making it difficult to assess developments since 1994. Such variations in the reliability of official suicide statistics complicate international comparisons. However, shifts in the death rate because of "ill-defined" causes could serve as a warning that data quality is not consistent over time.
This study investigated demographic and diagnostic characteristics of individuals whose medical record or death certificate indicated the presence of anorexia nervosa at the time of death.
Two national registers, the National Patient Register (NPR) and the Causes of Death Register (CODR), were examined in Norway for anorexia nervosa-related deaths occurring across a 9-year period (1992-2000).
The medical record or death certificate listed anorexia nervosa as a diagnosis or cause of death for 66 individuals. Rates of death were 6.46 and 9.93 per 100,000 deaths for the NPR and the CODR, respectively. A substantial percentage of deaths (43.9%) in both registers occurred at or above the age of 65 years. For the NPR, the mean age at the time of death was 61 years and 31% of deaths occurred among men. For the CODR, the mean age at the time of death was 49 years and 18% of deaths occurred among men.
Potential merits and shortcomings of assessing mortality rates using register-based data without linkage to a previously identified clinical sample are discussed.
The international classification of diseases (ICD) provides guidelines for the collection, classification and dissemination of official cause-of-death statistics. New revisions of the ICD can potentially disrupt time trends of cause-of-death statistics and affect between-country comparisons. The aim of this study was to measure how switching from ICD-9 to ICD-10 affected mortality statistics for external causes of death, i.e. intentional and unintentional injuries, in Italy and Norway.
A sample of death certificates (N=454,897) were selected in Italy from the first year the ICD-10 was implemented (2003) and reclassified from ICD-10 to ICD-9 by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. A sample of death certificates was also selected in Norway (N=10,706) from the last year the ICD-9 was used (1995) and reclassified according to ICD-10 by Statistics Norway. The reclassification (double-coding) was performed by special trained personal in governmental offices responsible for official mortality statistics. Although the reclassification covered all causes of death (diseases and injuries) in the sample, our analysis focused on just one ICD chapter XX. This was external causes of mortality (injury deaths), and covered 15 selected categories of injuries.
The switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 had a significant net impact on 8 of the 15 selected categories. In Italy, accidental falls decreased by 76%; traffic accidents decreased by 9%; suicide by hanging decreased by 3%; events of undetermined intent decreased by 69%; and overall injury deaths decreased by 4%. These net decreases reflect the moving of death records from injury categories in ICD-9 to other injury or disease categories in ICD-10. In Norway, the number of records in three categories decreased significantly: transport accidents, 9%; traffic accidents, 13%; and suicide by self-poisoning, 18%. No statistically significant differences (net changes) were observed in the total number of accidents, suicides and homicides in either country.
Switching to ICD-10 did not change the overall trends for accidents, homicides and suicides in either country. However, the number of records in some injury subcategories e.g. accidental falls and traffic accidents, decreased. Changing classification can thus affect the ranking of causes of injury mortality, with consequences for public health policy.
Poisoning is an important category of avoidable deaths in Norway and an important public health issue. Close monitoring of any development in this field is essential for effective preventive measures.
To assess the pattern and trends of poisoning mortality in Norway from 2003 to 2012 based on official mortality data.
This is a population-based registry study. We analyzed the underlying external cause of death data, in order to assess poisoning deaths (ICD-10) by accidents (X40-X49); intentional self-harm (suicide) (X60-X69); assault (homicide) (X85-X90); and poisoning of undetermined intent (Y10-Y19). We compared poisoning deaths to other injury mechanisms and used multiple injury cause data to identify substances involved in poisoning deaths. Poisson regression was applied to estimate the trend.
Poisoning was the second leading mechanism of injury deaths in Norway from 2003 to 2012, causing between 424 and 496 deaths each year. The rates of poisoning deaths varied between 8 and 11 per 100,000 inhabitants, with a peak in 2004. About 3366 of the 4620 poisoning deaths in the decade were accidental. Opioids were the most common causative agents. Heroin caused 150 deaths in 2004. The numbers fell to 63 in 2012 but showed great yearly variations. Deaths by methadone increased from 24 in 2003 to 61 in 2012.
Poisoning mortality rates declined from 2003 to 2012. Interpretation of the data, however, should be done with caution, and comparison with other countries may be biased due to differences in data production procedures. Evaluation of the effect of preventive measures to reduce mortality should be emphasized.
Poisonings remain a significant cause of mortality by injury in Norway. Emphasis should be placed on following the trends closely, especially regarding methadone deaths.
Department of Psychosomatics and Health Behavior, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404 Nydalen, 0403 Oslo, Norway. finn.gjertsen@fhi.no.
Source
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Jan;11(1):487-506
Public health organizations have recommended restricted access and safe storage practices as means to reduce firearm injuries and deaths. We aimed to assess the effect of four firearm restrictions on firearm deaths in Norway 1969-2009.
All deaths due to firearm discharge were included (5,660 deaths, both sexes). The statistical analysis to assess impact of firearm legislations was restricted to males because of the sex disproportionality (94% were males).
A total of 89% of firearm deaths (both sexes) were classified as suicide, 8% as homicide, and 3% as unintentional (accident). During the past four decades, male accidental firearm death rates were reduced significantly by 90%. Male firearms suicide rates increased from 1969 to 1991 by 166%, and decreased by 62% from 1991 to 2009. Despite the great reduction in male accidental firearm deaths, we were unable to demonstrate effects of the laws. In contrast, we found that a 1990 regulation, requiring a police permit before acquiring a shotgun, had a beneficial impact on suicide in the total sample and in those aged 15-34 years. Male firearm homicides decreased post-2003 regulation regarding storing home guard weapons in private homes.
Our findings suggest that two laws could have contributed to reduce male firearm mortality. It is, however, a challenge to measure the role of four firearm restrictions. The null findings are inconclusive, as they may reflect no true impact or study limitations.
Notes
Cites: Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2003 Summer;33(2):151-6412882416
The aim of the study was to explore sudden cardiac death during physical activity in young adults in Norway.
This retrospective study examined adults aged 15-34 years during the period 1990-1997. The Cause of Death Registry was used to identify cases of sudden cardiac death in sports. These cases were validated with information from medical records and autopsy reports.
Twenty-three sports-related sudden deaths (22 men), mean age 27 years (17-34 years), were identified. Causes of death were myocardial infarction (11), myocarditis (5), conduction abnormalities (2), aortic stenosis (1), cardiac rupture (1), hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (1), congenital coronary anomaly (1), and coronary sclerosis without defined infarction (1). The deaths were distributed across different types of sports activities. The incidence of deaths among physically active young men was 0.9 per 100,000.
The number of myocardial infarctions is higher than expected. The incidence is similar to that found in other studies. A vast majority of the cases of death were men.
