YEAR OF OCCURRENCE
Introduction
Information contained in the preceding chapters of this publication refers to deaths registered during the 2008 calendar year. In this chapter, death statistics are based on year of occurrence, that is, the year in which the death actually occurred, rather than the year it was registered.
There are a proportion of deaths that occur in a year which are not registered until subsequent years. The international standard for publishing on a year of occurrence basis is to include deaths registered within the relevant occurrence year, and deaths for that same occurrence year which are registered the year immediately following.
For example, presented below are deaths occurring in 2007 that have been registered in both 2007 and 2008.
Accordingly, this practice has been adopted for the presentation of year of occurrence data in this publication to facilitate international comparisons. Analysis of deaths in Australia has shown that the number of deaths registered after the second year is not significant; that is, there is a very small number of deaths registered after the second year.
Year of occurrence data allow for seasonal analysis, and data are not distorted by the effects of late registrations or changes in time lags in processing registrations. In those countries where registration systems are complete and timely, there is not a significant difference between the number of deaths derived on a year of registration basis and those on a year of occurrence basis.
For Australia, approximately 95% of deaths registered in a particular year occurred in that year. However, variations can occur in certain subsets of the population and for particular causes of death. For instance, while 95% of the total 137,854 deaths registered in 2007 occurred in the same year, only 87% of the 2,421 Indigenous deaths and 93% of deaths due to External causes registered in 2007 occurred in that year. More detailed data for specific causes or population groups are available from the ABS on request.
Datacubes
More detailed data by year of occurrence is included in the datacubes associated with this publication. This includes all causes at the 3-digit level of ICD-10.
Comparison of Year of Occurrence and Year of Registration data for 2007
The following table shows the number of deaths occurring in 2007 which were registered in either 2007 or 2008. As seen in this table, 12% of deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people occurring in 2007 (and registered in either 2007 or 2008) were registered late, in 2008. This compared with 6.1% for the total population.
A late registration is defined as a death which is registered after the end of the year in which the death occurred. For example, a death which occurred in 2007 registered in 2008 or later.
7.1 SELECTED CAUSES, 2007 Year of Occurrence(a)(b) |
|
 | Registration Years | | |
| 2007(a)(b)(c) | 2008(b)(d)(e)(f) | Total as at 2008(b)(e)(f)(g) | Late Registrations |
| Cause of death and ICD code | no. | no. | no. | % |
INDIGENOUS |
|
| All Causes | 2 101 | 288 | 2 389 | 12.1 |
TOTAL |
|
| All Causes | 130 975 | 8 579 | 139 554 | 6.1 |
| Infectious diseases (A00-B99) | 1 735 | 109 | 1 844 | 5.9 |
| Cancer (C00-D48) | 38 428 | 2 489 | 40 917 | 6.1 |
| Blood and immunity disorders (D50-D89) | 455 | 29 | 484 | 6.0 |
| Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90) | 5 141 | 357 | 5 498 | 6.5 |
| Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99) | 5 518 | 340 | 5 858 | 5.8 |
| Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99) | 5 257 | 299 | 5 556 | 5.4 |
| Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59) | 4 | - | 4 | - |
| Diseases of the ear and mastoid process (H60-H95) | 3 | - | 3 | - |
| Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (I00-I99) | 44 530 | 2 764 | 47 294 | 5.8 |
| Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99) | 10 998 | 601 | 11 599 | 5.2 |
| Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K93) | 4 535 | 297 | 4 832 | 6.1 |
| Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L99) | 352 | 18 | 370 | 4.9 |
| Diseases of the muscles, bones, and tendons (M00-M99) | 1 049 | 66 | 1 115 | 5.9 |
| Diseases of the kidney, urinary system and genitals (N00-N99) | 3 169 | 154 | 3 323 | 4.6 |
| Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (O00-O99) | 5 | 4 | 9 | 44.4 |
| Conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96) | 517 | 63 | 580 | 10.9 |
| Congenital and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99) | 535 | 51 | 586 | 8.7 |
| Ill-defined causes (R00-R99) | 1 250 | 108 | 1 358 | 8.0 |
| External causes (V01-Y98) | 7 494 | 832 | 8 326 | 10.0 |
|
| - nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) |
| (a) Causes of death data for 2007 have been revised and are subject to further revisions. See Technical Note 3: 2007 Revisions for further information. |
| (b) Data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation. |
| (c) Deaths occurring in 2007, registered in 2007. |
(d) Deaths occurring in 2007, registered in 2008.
(e) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process for further information.
(f) 2008 data have been subject to process improvements which have increased the quality of these data. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information.
(g) Deaths occurring in 2007, registered in 2007 or 2008. |
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