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Ministry of Health
TABLE 23
LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH BY AGE
BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1998

  Males Females Total
Cause of Death ICD9 Code(s) Number Percent Number Percent Number1 Percent
Under 1 Year Old
1. Congenital anomalies 740-759 33 34.0 24 32.0 58 33.5
2. Perinatal respiratory conditions 768-770 15 15.5 8 10.7 23 13.3
3. Maternal conditions/complications of labour and delivery 760-763 8 8.2 10 13.3 18 10.4
4. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 798.0 8 8.2 7 9.3 15 8.7
5. Immaturity/prematurity 764-765 6 6.2 5 6.7 11 6.4
  Other causes   27 27.8 21 28.0 48 27.7
  All causes   97 100.0 75 100.0 173 100.0
1-14 Years Old
1. Accidents(*) E800-E949, E970-E978, E990-E999 30 40.5 10 33.3 40 38.5
2. Cancers 140-208 10 13.5 7 23.3 17 16.3
3. Congenital anomalies 740-759 9 12.2 4 13.3 13 12.5
4. Nervous system disease 320-389 7 9.5 1 3.3 8 7.7
5. Infectious/parasitic diseases 001-139 3 4.1 1 3.3 4 3.8
  Other causes   15 20.3 7 23.3 22 21.2
  All causes   74 100.0 30 100.0 104 100.0
15-24 Years Old
1. Accidents(*) E800-E949, E970-E978, E990-E999 118 54.1 33 44.0 151 51.5
2. Suicide E950-E959 32 14.7 5 6.7 37 12.6
3. Cancers 140-208 9 4.1 8 10.7 17 5.8
4. Nervous system disease 320-389 4 1.8 3 4.0 7 2.4
5. Homicide E960-E969 5 2.3 1 1.3 6 2.0
  Other causes   50 22.9 25 33.3 75 25.6
  All causes   218 100.0 75 100.0 293 100.0
25-44 Years Old
1. Accidents(*) E800-E949, E970-E978, E990-E999 411 37.3 108 20.6 519 31.9
2. Cancers 140-208 133 12.1 168 32.1 301 18.5
3. Suicide E950-E959 144 13.1 33 6.3 177 10.9
4. Cardiovascular disease 391-429 83 7.5 27 5.2 110 6.8
5. Infectious/parasitic diseases 001-139 72 6.5 21 4.0 93 5.7
  Other causes   259 23.5 167 31.9 426 26.2
  All causes   1,102 100.0 524 100.0 1,626 100.0
45-64 Years Old
1. Cancers 140-208 915 36.2 880 55.8 1,795 43.7
2. Cardiovascular disease 391-429 537 21.3 173 11.0 710 17.3
3. Accidents(*) E800-E949, E970-E978, E990-E999 221 8.8 64 4.1 285 6.9
4. Respiratory disease 460-519 112 4.4 67 4.2 179 4.4
5. Suicide E950-E959 104 4.1 35 2.2 139 3.4
  Other causes   636 25.2 359 22.8 995 24.3
  All causes   2,525 100.0 1,578 100.0 4,103 100.0
65-84 Years Old
1. Cancers 140-208 2,411 31.4 1,946 30.9 4,357 31.2
2. Cardiovascular disease 391-429 2,181 28.4 1,565 24.9 3,746 26.8
3. Respiratory disease 460-519 876 11.4 698 11.1 1,574 11.3
4. Cerebrovascular disease 430-438 566 7.4 609 9.7 1,175 8.4
5. Digestive system disease 520-579 248 3.2 254 4.0 502 3.6
  Other causes   1,392 18.1 1,216 19.3 2,608 18.7
  All causes   7,674 100.0 6,288 100.0 13,962 100.0
85 Years and Older
1. Cardiovascular disease 391-429 916 32.6 1,598 33.8 2,514 33.4
2. Respiratory disease 460-519 504 18.0 653 13.8 1,157 15.4
3. Cancers 140-208 443 15.8 519 11.0 962 12.8
4. Cerebrovascular disease 430-438 283 10.1 663 14.0 946 12.6
5. Alzheimer disease and presenile dementias 290, 298.9, 331.0 99 3.5 334 7.1 433 5.8
  Other causes   561 20.0 957 20.3 1,518 20.2
  All causes   2,806 100.0 4,724 100.0 7,530 100.0

Note:* Excludes suicide, homicide and deaths undetermined whether accidental or intentional.
1Total number includes one infant death (due to congenital anomalies) with gender unknown.
Total percentage may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Non-residents are excluded.

HIGHLIGHTS TO TABLE 23
  • There were 173 infant deaths (under one year of age) in 1998, a 14% decrease from 202 deaths in 1997. Congenital anomalies were still the leading cause of infant death (58 deaths). At the time this report was prepared, 15 deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) were recorded for 1998.

  • There were 104 deaths in the 1-14 age group in 1998. Accidents remained the leading cause of death in this age group, with 40 deaths in 1998. There were 17 deaths from cancers (malignant neoplasms), which ranked second. The third and fourth leading causes of death were congenital anomalies (13 deaths) and nervous system disease (8 deaths), which replaced homicide and suicide.

  • Accidents were responsible for 51.5% (151 deaths) of the 293 deaths in the 15-24 age group. Violence claimed one in seven deaths (14.7%) in this age group; there were 37 suicides (the second leading cause of death) and 6 homicides (in fifth place). Almost four fifths (79.9%) of the deaths from accidents and violence in this 15-24 age group were young men.

  • In the 25-44 age group, there were 1,626 deaths in 1998. For men in this age group, the leading cause of death was accidents (411 deaths), followed by suicide (144) and cancers (133). For women in this age group, cancer was the leading cause of death (168 deaths, including 54 from breast cancer - see Appendix 2), followed by accidents (108) and suicide (33). Deaths from AIDS/HIV infection decreased again in 1998 and have been replaced on the leading causes of death list with deaths due to infectious/parasitic diseases (93 deaths).

  • The leading causes of death in the 45-64 age group were cancers (1,795 deaths), cardiovascular diseases (710), and accidents (285). More than a third of the male deaths (36.2%) were from cancer (915 deaths); the major cancer for men's deaths was lung cancer (270 deaths) (see Appendix 2). Of female deaths (1,578) in this age group, 55.8% were from cancers (880), particularly lung cancer (256) and breast cancer (205) (see Appendix 2).

  • Cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases were the leading causes of death of both men and women in the 65-84 age group in 1998.

  • The leading causes of death in the 85 and over age group, both genders combined, were cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and cancers. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases (2,514) accounted for a third (33.4%) of the 7,530 deaths in this age group.