Objective To analyze the composition and changing trend of causes of death among residents in Zhujing Town, Shanghai, China, 2015-2018, to identify the main issues affecting residents' health, and to provide a scientific basis for the formulation of health policy in this area.

Methods The data from the Coroner Surveillance System of Zhujing Town in Shanghai from 2015 to 2018 were collected. The causes of death were classified in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Excel 2010 was used to collate the data, and SPSS 20.0 was used to perform statistical analyses on crude death rate (mortality rate for short), composition ratio of causes of death, standardized mortality ratio (SMR), annual percent change (APC), potential years of life lost (PYLL), average years of life lost (AYLL), and PYLL rate, etc.

Results The mortality rate of residents in Zhujing Town was 942.81/10⁵, and the SMR was 485.46/10⁵. The mortality rate of males was significantly higher than that of females (1 029.10/10⁵ vs 857.17/10⁵, χ²=21.71, P < 0.01) and showed an increasing trend (t=4.50, P=0.046). The top five causes of death were circulatory diseases, malignant tumors, respiratory diseases, injuries, and endocrine/nutritional/metabolic diseases. The leading cause of death was malignant tumors in males and circulatory diseases in females. The mortality rate of circulatory diseases began to increase and grow exponentially since the age of 55; the mortality rate of malignant tumors began to increase and grow exponentially since the age of 40; the mortality rate of injuries began to increase sharply since the age of 75, and accidental fall was the main cause. Among the residents who died at the age from 1 to 69 in Zhujing Town, the PYLL caused by all reasons was 13 870.41 years, and the AYLL was 22.37 years; the top five AYLL values were caused by malignant tumors, circulatory diseases, injuries, endocrine/nutritional/metabolic diseases, and nervous system diseases, which were 24.16, 7.37, 5.77, 1.06 and 0.93 years, respectively.

Conclusion The main causes of death among residents in Zhujing Town are chronic non-communicable diseases (circulatory diseases and malignant tumors, etc.) and injuries, and malignant tumors account for the most years of life lost, which are the focus of prevention and control.