Abstract:
Objective To analyze the major causes of death in old people (≥65 years old) of Lanzhou city, and to provide a scientific basis for the implement of health care projects of aged population.
Methods The death cause data of population aged ≥ 65 years was selected from disease surveillance system in Lanzhou Center for Disease Control. The national standard population of 2010 was used to analyze the standard mortality rate. SPSS 18.0 software package was used to perform chi-square test and trend chi-square test.
Results The mortality of population aged≥65 years in the city was 2646/105 (the standardized mortality was 3075/105). The mortality was higher in males than that in females, and the mortality was positively related to the age of people (P < 0.05). The first five death causes were circulatory system disease, cancer, respiratory system disease, endocrine system disease, nutrition and metabolic diseases as well as injuries, poisonings, etc. The first three death causes accounted for 84.74% of the total death. The mortality of circulation system disease was higher in females than that in males, and was higher in the winter and spring than that in summer and autumn. The mortality of circulation system disease was positively related to the age of people (P < 0.05). The mortality of cancer was higher in males than that in females, and was higher in the summer and autumn than that in winter and spring.The mortality of cancer was negatively related to the age of people (P < 0.05). The mortality of respiratory system disease was positively related to the age of people (P < 0.05).
Conclusions Circulation system disease, cancer and respiratory disease were the major causes of death in old people of Lanzhou. However, the death rates were significantly different from the gender, age of people as well as the seasons. The authors suggested that the health care project for aged population must be varied with the gender and age of people as well as the seasons.