埼玉医科大学雑誌 第30巻 第2号 (2003年4月) 113-120頁 ◇論文(図表を含む全文)は,PDFファイルとなっています.
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An Analysis of Death Rates in Tianjin, China, 1991-1996

Feng Yanru
Department of Public Health, Saitama Medical School, Moroyama, Iruma-gun, Saitama 350-0495, Japan



Background: In a previous study of the death rates in Tianjin in 1995, the author reported a high death rate from heart diseases and a low death rate from malignant neoplasms, compared with the corresponding rates recorded from other cities in China and Japan. Examination of the geographical variations of the death rates revealed clustering of deaths from cerebrovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms. The objective of the present study was to examine the mortality patterns in detail using data collected over the relatively long period of 1991-1996. Methods: The mortality statistics in Tianjin for the period of 1991-1996 were provided by the Department of Health, Tianjin, China. Population data were obtained from the censuses conducted in 1990 and 1995. The age-adjusted death rates, age-specific death rates and the standardized mortality ratios(SMRs) in the 18 districts of Tianjin were calculated for the three leading causes of death by sex. Results: The total number of deaths in Tianjin during the period 1991-1996 was 303,737. Of these, 63.7 % was attributed to the three leading causes of death. The age-adjusted death rates and age-specific death rates from heart diseases and malignant neoplasms decreased for both men and women during the study period. However, during the same period, the age-adjusted death rate, and for the most of part, the age-specific death rate from cerebrovascular diseases remained at a stable level in both sexes. Analysis of the geographical distribution of the death rates showed that the SMRs for heart diseases were high in the Northwest, the SMRs for cerebrovascular diseases were high in the eastern part of the urban area of Tianjin and in the eastern part of Tianjin, and those for malignant neoplasms were high in the urban and coastal areas. The geographical patterns of deaths from cerebrovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms were consistent with those indicated in the previous study. Conclusion: The present analysis determined the geographical patterns of deaths from the three leading causes of death within Tianjin, and a decreasing trend was apparent in the death rates from heart diseases and malignant neoplasms, while the death rate from cerebrovascular diseases remained stable during the study period. The results of the current study indicated that measures for the prevention and control of non-communicable chronic diseases in Tianjin, particularly of cerebrovascular diseases, were scarcely effective in the 1990s. The results also emphasize the need for special intervention in specific target districts of Tianjin.
Keywords: three leading causes of death, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, malignant neoplasm, age-adjusted death rate, age-specific death rate, standardized mortality ratio (SMR)
J Saitama Med School 2003; 30: 113-120
(Received December 14, 2002)


(C) 2003 The Medical Society of Saitama Medical School
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