Summary of Death Related Statistics

Causes of Death by Gender and Age, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 21

Twelve Leading Causes of Death, British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Twelve Leading Causes of Death, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 22/Figure 15

TABLE 23:
Highlights:

Leading Causes of Death by Age, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 23

TABLE 24:
Highlights:

Infant Mortality by Age of Mother and Birth Weight, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 24

TABLE 25:
Highlights:

Infant Mortality by Gestational Age and Birth Weight, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 25

TABLE 26:
FIGURE 16
Highlights:

Infant Mortality by Local Health Area, British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Infant Mortality by Local Health Area, British Columbia, 1993-1997 (map)
Highlights to Table 26/Figure 16

TABLE 27:
Highlights:

Selected Causes of Infant Deaths and Stillbirths, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 27

TABLE 28:

FIGURE 17

Highlights:

Deaths Due to AIDS and HIV Infection by Gender and Age Group, British Columbia, 1987-1998
Deaths Due to AIDS and HIV Infection by Age Group, British Columbia, 1994-1998
Highlights to Table 28/Figure17

TABLE 29:

Highlights:

Deaths Due to AIDS and HIV Infection by Health Region, British Columbia, 1987-1998
Highlights to Table 29

TABLE 30:
Highlights:

Deaths from Accidents and Violence by Gender, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 30

TABLE 31:
Highlights:

Deaths from Accidents and Violence by Local Health Area, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 31

TABLE 32:
Highlights:

Suicide Deaths by Month and Gender, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 32

TABLE 33:

FIGURE 18

Highlights:

Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area, All Causes of Death
British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area, All Causes of Death
British Columbia, 1993-1997 (map)
Highlights to Table 33/Figure18

TABLE 34:

FIGURE 19

Highlights:

Potential Years of Life Lost and Age Standardized Mortality Rates
by Selected Causes of Death, British Columbia, 1998
Potential Years of Life Lost and Age Standardized Mortality Rates
by Selected Causes of Death, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 34/Figure19

TABLE 35:

FIGURE 20

Highlights:

Potential Years of Life Lost by Age Group and Major Causes of Death
(Age Under 75 Years), British Columbia, 1998
Potential Years of Life Lost Standardized Rates by Age Group and Gender
Major Causes of Death (Age Under 75 Years), British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 35/Figure20

TABLE 36:

FIGURE 21

Highlights:

Potential Years of Life Lost by Local Health Area, External Causes of Death
(Age Under 75 Years), British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Potential Years of Life Lost by Local Health Area, External Causes of Death
(Age Under 75 Years), British Columbia, 1993-1997 (map)
Highlights to Table 36/Figure21

TABLE 37:

Highlights:

Deaths Due to Medically Treatable Diseases by Selected Causes and Gender
British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Highlights to Table 37

TABLE 38:

FIGURE 22

Highlights:

Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area,
Deaths Due to Selected Medically Treatable Diseases
British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area
Deaths Due to Selected Medically Treatable Diseases
British Columbia, 1993-1997 (map)
Highlights to Table 38/Figure22

TABLE 39:
FIGURE 23
Highlights:

Alcohol-related Deaths by Cause, British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Alcohol-related Deaths by Cause, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 39/Figure23

TABLE 40:
Highlights:

Alcohol-related Deaths by Age and Gender, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 40

TABLE 41:

FIGURE 24

Highlights:

Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area, Alcohol-related Deaths
British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area, Alcohol-related Deaths
British Columbia, 1993-1997 (map)
Highlights to Table 41/Figure24

TABLE 42:
FIGURE 25

Highlights:

Smoking-attributable Mortality, British Columbia, 1998
Smoking-attributable Mortality by Selected Causes and Gender, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 42/Figure25

TABLE 43:
Highlights:

Drug-induced Deaths by Age and Gender, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 43

TABLE 44:
FIGURE 26
Highlights:

Drug-induced Deaths by Cause, British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Drug-induced Deaths by Cause, British Columbia, 1998
Highlights to Table 44/Figure26

TABLE 45:

FIGURE 27

Highlights:

Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area, Drug-induced Deaths
British Columbia, 1993-1997 and 1998
Standardized Mortality Ratio by Local Health Area, Drug-induced Deaths
British Columbia, 1993-1997 (map)
Highlights to Table 45/Figure 27

TABLE 46:
Highlights:

Method of Disposition of Decedent, British Columbia, 1985-1998
Highlights to Table 46

Summary

Statistics arising from death events are presented in this section. Included are tables and figures containing information about deaths by age, gender and cause. Deaths are assigned to a Local Health Area (LHA) based on the usual residence of the decedent. Topics of particular interest are leading causes of death, infant mortality, alcohol-related, drug-induced and smoking-attributable causes, and deaths from AIDS/HIV infection, accidents, and violence. Mortality statistics are provided in terms of Age Standardized Mortality Rates (ASMR), Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR), and Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL). Standardized measures are used to compare deaths in different geographical areas by age, gender and cause. In addition, maps are provided to geographically illustrate various patterns of mortality in British Columbia.

Statistics from 1999 deaths are summarized below:

There were 27,794 deaths recorded in the province to B.C. residents: 14,695 males and 13,099 females. Over three quarters of all deaths were seniors (age 65 or older), and the oldest age group (80 years of age or more) accounted for over four out of every ten deaths. There were 213 deaths to B.C. residents aged 100 or more; the oldest woman was 108 years old, and the oldest man was 108 years old.
The Age Standardized Mortality Rate (ASMR) for all causes of death was 58.14 deaths per 10,000 standard population in 1999. The ASMR for males in 1999 was 73.53 and the ASMR for females was 46.11.
There was an 8.3% decrease in deaths from AIDS and HIV infections, from 109 deaths in 1998 to 100 deaths in 1999. This was the fifth consecutive decrease since 1994.
The five leading causes of death in 1999, which were the same as 1998, were cancers (malignant neoplasms), heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, pneumonia and accidents.
More than one in four deaths in the province was due to cancer (malignant neoplasms) in 1999 (7,570 deaths). Since 1993, cancer has replaced heart disease as the leading cause of death for British Columbians. The Age Standardized Mortality Rate (ASMR) for cancer in 1999 was 16.28 deaths per 10,000 standard population, slightly lower than the five year (1994-1998) ASMR of 16.83.
Heart disease was the second leading cause of death in 1999, accounting for one quarter of all deaths (6,980) and an ASMR of 14.18, a decrease from the ASMR of 15.76 for the 1994-1998 period.
In 1999, there were 156 infant deaths (under one year of age) and 294 stillbirths. This was a decrease (10.3%) in the number of infant deaths and an increase (5.8%) of stillbirths compared to 1998 (174 infant deaths and 278 stillbirths). The number of stillbirths has exceeded the number of infant deaths each year since 1991 (see Table 1 and Table 4 for details).
Perinatal complications were the cause of death for almost half of the infant deaths (77) and four fifths of all stillbirths (238) in 1999. The infant mortality rate for 1999 due to perinatal complications was 18.45 deaths per 10,000 live births, and the stillbirth rate for this cause was 56.62 per 10,000 total births.
In 1999, babies born to mothers under 20 years of age had the highest infant mortality rate. There were 6.48 infant deaths per 1,000 live births for teenage mothers (age under 20).
Premature deaths (age under 75), accounted for 11,217 out of 27,794 deaths in B.C. in 1999. The average years of life lost per death under 75 years of age was 16.5.
There were 94 deaths in the 1-14 age group in 1999. Accidents remained the leading cause of death in this age group, with 32 deaths in 1999.
There were 1,780 deaths from accidents and violence in 1999. Approximately one in four of these was due to suicide (421 deaths). Accidental falls (367) and motor vehicle accidents (353) accounted for one in five each, and accidental poisoning (298) accounted for one in six deaths.
In 1999, there were 5,762 smoking-attributable deaths, and 1,832 deaths which were directly or indirectly related to alcohol in 1999. There were 385 drug-induced deaths including drug dependence, accidental drug poisonings and suicides involving drugs.

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