Open AccessCauses of death classified by risk and condition, New Zealand 1997
Author(s) -
Tobias Martin,
Turley Maria
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-842x.2005.tb00740.x
Subject(s) - medicine , environmental health , risk factor , body mass index , injury prevention , population , disease , poison control , occupational safety and health , demography , pathology , sociology
Objective:To classify causes of death in New Zealand by risk factor (in addition to condition) as a planning tool for health promotion.Method:Deaths occurring in New Zealand in 1997 were classified by 20 prevalent risk factors using a combination of categorical attribution (rule‐based) and counterfactual modelling (population‐attributable risk‐based) approaches.Results:Approximately 30% of deaths were attributed to the joint effect of dietary factors. Tobacco consumption was responsible for 18% of deaths and insufficient physical activity for almost 10%. Less important behavioural risk factors included alcohol consumption (3%), illicit drug use (0.5%) and unsafe sex (0.5%). Among biological risk factors, higher than optimal total blood cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and body mass index accounted for 17%, 15% and 12% of deaths respectively. Deprivation contributed to 17% of deaths, and adverse in‐hospital events to 6%. Among environmental exposures, microbes accounted for 6.5% of deaths, air pollution 3.5% and occupational diseases and injuries 0.5%. Among injury hazards, risk factors related to road traffic were responsible for 2% of deaths, while violence accounted for 2.5% of deaths, mostly through suicide. Cross‐classifying deaths by both condition and risk factor, 90% of ischaemic heart disease and 80% of stroke, but only 30% of cancer deaths, could be attributed to specific risk factors.Conclusions:This is the first comprehensive ranking of causes of death at the level of risk factors available for New Zealand and should prove useful as a planning tool, especially for disease prevention and health promotion.