TÜRKİYE’DE ÖLÜM NEDENLERİ: BULAŞICI HASTALIK YÜKÜNDEKİ ARTIŞ CİNSİYETE VE YAŞA GÖRE NASIL DEĞİŞMEKTEDİR?

Abstract

Causes of death statistics are essential tools for public health, but Turkey lags in the number of studies on causes and trends of death. This study measures causes and trends of death in Turkey for the 2013-2019 period, with special emphasis on the increase in communicable diseases (CDs). This study has a representative research design based on the national population and cause of death registration systems. Causes of death with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes were grouped and garbage codes were determined and redistributed. To understand how the increase in the burden of CDs vary by sex and age, modal age at death, age-specific death rates, probability of eventual death, years of life lost (YLL) due to three main causes of death were calculated by using discrete absorbing Markov chain model. According to results, modal age at death among male population shifted to older ages, the share of respiratory infectious diseases and other infectious and parasitic diseases increased rapidly between 2013 and 2019, just before the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, our results suggest that burden of CDs increased for both sexes, and elderly male population was among the most effected group. Since non-communicable diseases were still the leading causes of death, increasing rate of CDs may create an extra burden on health system.