A statistical analysis of the leading causes of death among inhabitants in macheng county, hubei province (1969–1978)

Summary

In this paper mortality rate and major causes of death among inhabitants of Macheng County were analysed statistically. Heart diseases rank first (21.44%), and cerebrovascular diseases second (14.81%) among all causes of death. The next three in order were respiratory diseases (13.86%), tuberculosis (10.99%) and malignant tumor (10.85%). The mortality rate from these five main diseases together constitutes 71.95% of the total mortality rates. They cause 160.24/10⁵, 110.96/10⁵, 103.63/10⁵, 82.12/10⁵ and 81.12/10⁵ deaths respectively. The death rates from these five main diseases were also analysed statistically according to sex, age and geographical distribution. The results so obtained provide a scientific basis for planning the prevention of diseases.