Multiple causes of death

Istat publishes multiple-cause data for 2007 in accordance with the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

In contrast to traditional statistics based on the underlying cause of death, the data on multiple causes provide a fuller and more complete picture of the pathological context surrounding the death. This analytical opportunity is very important in an era like ours, in which chronic-degenerative diseases play a predominant role in mortality and the average lifespan continues to increase. Under such circumstances, in fact, it is often the case that the cause of death is not imputable to a single pathology, but rather a complex interaction among multiple causes and conditions, any one of which might not be lethal when considered in isolation.

The data on multiple causes of death for the entire quantity of deaths were made available thanks to automation of the coding phase and especially the passage of ICD 10, the application of which requires using the decision tables from the Acme (Automated Classification of Medical Entities) software developed by the NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics, USA) to select the underlying cause of death, a step that requires that all of the causes of death be codified on the death form.

The tables present indicators related to multiple causes of death for the primary types of causes and by gender. There are also data for deaths that occurred within the first year of life.

The tables and methodological notes are in Italian.