Abstract

ISHITANI, Lenice Harumi  and  FRANCA, Elisabeth. The use of multiple causes of death in public health. Inf. Epidemiol. Sus [online]. 2001, vol.10, n.4, pp.163-175. ISSN 0104-1673.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S0104-16732001000400003.

Mortality statistics have traditionally been based on the concept of the underlying cause of death. Today, however, with the increase of life expectancy and the importance of chronic disease-related deaths, a large number of diagnoses are reported in the death certificate. To avoid losing information among conditions which are not classified as the underlying cause of death, an alternative approach for mortality statistics could be to analyze multiple causes of death. This approach could be an important instrument to estimate public health problems and to provide support for planning and evaluating health programs. Thus some advantages and limitations of the multiple cause of death approach are discussed in this paper.

Keywords : Mortality; Multiple Causes of Death; Cause of Death.

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