Statistical Services - BC Vital Statistics Agency

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TABLE 39:

FIGURE 23:

Highlights:
Tab 39
Fig23

TABLE 39
ALCOHOL-RELATED DEATHS BY CAUSE
British Columbia, 1997-2001 and 2002

FIGURE 23
ALCOHOL-RELATED DEATHS BY CAUSE
BRITISH COLUMBIA, 2002

Table, Alcohol-Related Deaths by Cause

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HIGHLIGHTS TO TABLE 39/FIGURE 23

Deaths that are "directly" related to alcohol are identified by specific underlying causes of death that involve alcohol. Deaths "indirectly" related to alcohol do not have an alcohol-related underlying cause of death, but alcohol was noted somewhere on the Medical Certification of Death.

There were 1,818 deaths that were directly or indirectly related to alcohol in 2002 and 9,104 deaths in the five-year period, 1997-2001.
In 2002, 315 deaths (17.3%) were directly related to alcohol, which is based on the underlying cause of death. In the 1997-2001 period, 1,631 deaths or 17.9% of alcohol-related deaths were directly related to alcohol.
In 2002, alcoholic liver disease accounted for more than half (51.7%) of the direct deaths from alcohol, higher than the proportion shown for 1997-2001 (45.4%). Alcoholic psychoses and dependence was the next largest category of deaths directly related to alcohol.
There were 1,503 deaths (82.7%) indirectly related to alcohol in 2002. Circulatory system diseases were the largest category of deaths indirectly related to alcohol, accounting for almost a three out of ten of the indirect deaths (29.1%) in 2002 and a slightly lower proportion (27.9%) in 1997-2001. Other large causes of death in the indirect group were neoplasms, unintentional injury/accidents, and respiratory system diseases.

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