Major Causes of Death among Men and Women in China

[Guest guest]

I thought you might be interested in this study because unlike similar

studies in the USA and Europe, there is no mention of death from adverse

drug reactions.

Regards

Susie Parkinson

 

Major Causes of Death among Men and Women in China

 

Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Dongfeng Gu, M.D., Xigui Wu, M.D., Kristi Reynolds,

Ph.D., M.P.H., Xiufang Duan, M.D., Chonghua Yao, M.D., Jialiang Wang, M.D.,

Chung-Shiuan Chen, M.S., Jing Chen, M.D., Rachel P. Wildman, Ph.D., M.P.H.,

Michael J. Klag, M.D., M.P.H., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D.

 

 

ABSTRACT

 

Background With China's rapid economic development, the disease burden may

have changed in the country. We studied the major causes of death and

modifiable risk factors in a nationally representative cohort of 169,871 men

and women 40 years of age and older in China.

 

Methods Baseline data on the participants' demographic characteristics,

medical history, lifestyle-related risk factors, blood pressure, and body

weight were obtained in 1991 with the use of a standard protocol. The

follow-up evaluation was conducted in 1999 and 2000, with a follow-up rate

of 93.4 percent.

 

Results We documented 20,033 deaths in 1,239,191 person-years of follow-up.

The mortality from all causes was 1480.1 per 100,000 person-years among men

and 1190.2 per 100,000 person-years among women. The five leading causes of

death were malignant neoplasms (mortality, 374.1 per 100,000 person-years),

diseases of the heart (319.1), cerebrovascular disease (310.5), accidents

(54.0), and infectious diseases (50.5) among men and diseases of the heart

(268.5), cerebrovascular disease (242.3), malignant neoplasms (214.1),

pneumonia and influenza (45.9), and infectious diseases (35.3) among women.

The multivariate-adjusted relative risk of death and the population

attributable risk for preventable risk factors were as follows:

hypertension, 1.48 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.44 to 1.53) and 11.7

percent, respectively; cigarette smoking, 1.23 (95 percent confidence

interval, 1.18 to 1.27) and 7.9 percent; physical inactivity, 1.20 (95

percent confidence interval, 1.16 to 1.24) and 6.8 percent; and underweight

(body-mass index [the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the

height in meters] below 18.5), 1.47 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.42 to

1.53) and 5.2 percent.

 

Conclusions Vascular disease and cancer have become the leading causes of

death among Chinese adults. Our findings suggest that control of

hypertension, smoking cessation, increased physical activity, and improved

nutrition should be important strategies for reducing the burden of

premature death among adults in China.

 

 

 

Source Information

 

From the Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public

Health and Tropical Medicine (J.H., K.R., C.-S.C., J.C., R.P.W., P.K.W.),

and the Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine (J.H.,

J.C., P.K.W.) — both in New Orleans; the Cardiovascular Institute, Fuwai

Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical

College, and the National Center for Cardiovascular Disease Control and

Research, Beijing (D.G., X.W., X.D.); Anzhen Hospital, Capital University of

Medical Sciences, Beijing (C.Y.); West China College of Medicine, Sichuan

University, Chendu, China (J.W.); and the Department of Medicine, Johns

Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (M.J.K.).

 

Address reprint requests to Dr. He at the Department of Epidemiology, Tulane

University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1430 Tulane Ave.,

Mail Stop SL18, New Orleans, LA 70112, or at jhe.

 

 

 

Full article on http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/11/1124