Geographical Variability in Mortality in Urban Areas: A Joint Analysis of 16 Causes of Death.

The geographical distribution of mortality has frequently been studied. Nevertheless, those studies often consider isolated causes of death. In this work, we aim to study the geographical distribution of mortality in urban areas, in particular, in 26 Spanish cities. We perform an overall study of 16 causes of death, considering that their geographical patterns could be dependent and estimating the dependence between the causes of death. We study the deaths in these 26 cities during the period 1996-2015 at the census tract level. A multivariate disease mapping model is used in order to solve the potential small area estimation problems that these data could show. We find that most of the geographical patterns found show positive correlations. This suggests the existence of a transversal geographical pattern, common to most causes of deaths, which determines those patterns to a higher/lower extent depending on each disease. The causes of death that exhibit that underlying pattern in a more prominent manner are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and cirrhosis for men and cardiovascular diseases and dementias for women. Such findings are quite consistent for most of the cities in the study. The high positive correlation found between geographical patterns reflects the existence of both high and low-risk areas in urban settings, in general terms for nearly all the causes of death. Moreover, the high-risk areas found often coincide with neighborhoods known for their high deprivation. Our results suggest that dependence among causes of death is a key aspect to be taken into account when mapping mortality, at least in urban contexts.

Clinical features and incidence trends of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Navarre, Spain, 2007-2018: a population-based study.

Objective: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with a median survival of 3 years. The aim of our study is to analyze the incidence, age-related phenotype and clinical onset, geographical distribution, survival and diagnostic delay of ALS in Navarre. Methods: This is a population-based observational retrospective study, including all residents of Navarre (a northern Spanish region) from 2007 to 2018, who were followed until 30th September 2020. Results: We observed a global incidence 2.47/100,000 person-years, with an upward trend throughout the study, with the highest being in the age group of 70-74 years old. Point prevalence in December 2018 was 6.64/100,000 inhabitants (95%CI: 4.52-8.45). Upper limbs weakness onset was the most frequent in young people (<60 years), and bulbar, lower limbs weakness, generalized and respiratory associated with older age. Bulbar phenotype is the most frequent in women and in 80+ group. The median survival from clinical onset was 27.7 months (95%CI: 24.0-31.4), higher in spinal phenotype and younger onset age, and the diagnosis delay was 10.0 months (95%CI: 8.9-11.2) from clinical onset. Conclusions: We have observed a trend of increasing incidence in older people where the bulbar phenotype and female predominance.

[Coding Causes of Death with IRIS Software. Impact in Navarre Mortality Statistic]. / Codificación de las causas de muerte con el software Iris. Impacto en las estadísticas de mortalidad en la Comunidad Foral de Navarra.

BACKGROUND: There are few studies that analyze changes in mortality statistics derived from the use of IRIS software, an automatic system for coding multiple causes of death and for the selection of the underlying cause of death, compared to manual coding. This study evaluated the impact of the use of IRIS in the Navarre mortality statistic. METHODS: We proceeded to double coding 5,060 death certificates corresponding to residents in Navarra in 2014. We calculated coincidence between the two encodings for ICD10 chapters and for the list of causes of the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE-102) and we estimated the change on mortality rates. RESULTS: IRIS automatically coded 90% of death certificates. The coincidence to 4 characters and in the same chapter of the CIE10 was 79.1% and 92.0%, respectively. Furthermore, coincidence with the short INE-102 list was 88.3%. Higher matches were found in death certificate of people under 65 years. In comparison with manual coding there was an increase in deaths from endocrine diseases (31%), mental disorders (19%) and disease of nervous system (9%), while a decrease of genitourinary system diseases was observed (21%). CONCLUSIONS: The coincidence at level of ICD10 chapters coding by IRIS in comparison to manual coding was 9 out of 10 deaths, similar to what is observed in other studies. The implementation of IRIS has led to increased of endocrine diseases, especially diabetes and hyperlipidaemia, and mental disorders, especially dementias.

OBJETIVO: Existen pocos estudios que analicen los cambios en las estadísticas de mortalidad derivados de la utilización del software IRIS para la codificación automática de la causa de muerte en comparación a la codificación manual. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar el impacto del uso de IRIS en las estadísticas de mortalidad de Navarra. METODOS: Se procedió a una doble codificación de la causa básica de 5.060 boletines de defunción correspondientes a los fallecimientos de residentes en Navarra en 2014. Se establecieron las correspondencias entre ambas codificaciones para los capítulos de la CIE10 y la lista de causas INE-102 y se estimó el cambio en las tasas de mortalidad. RESULTADOS: Con el software IRIS se codificaron automáticamente el 90% de las defunciones. Se observó una coincidencia a 4 caracteres y en el mismo capítulo de la CIE10 en el 79,1 y el 92,0% de los casos. La coincidencia para la lista reducida INE-102 fue del 88,3%. Se encontraron coincidencias más elevadas en las defunciones de personas menores de 65 años. Se observó un incremento de las muertes por enfermedades endocrinas (31%), trastornos mentales (19%) y enfermedades del sistema nervioso (9%), mientras que diminuyeron las enfermedades del sistema genitourinario (21%). CONCLUSIONES: La coincidencia a nivel de los capítulos de CIE10 de la codificación con IRIS respecto a la manual se da en 9 de cada 10 defunciones. La implantación de IRIS comporta un incremento de las enfermedades endocrinas, fundamentalmente diabetes mellitus e hiperlipidemias, y de los trastornos mentales, fundamentalmente las demencias.