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EXTERNAL CAUSES (V01-Y98)

Data for External causes of death for 2008 have been positively impacted by process improvements. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information. 2008 data are also subject to a revisions process which will further impact data for Ill defined causes. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process for further information.

External causes of death relate to cases where the underlying cause of death is determined to be one of a group of causes external to the body (for example Intentional self-harm [Suicide], transport accidents, falls, poisoning etc).

In 2008, External causes accounted for 8,804 deaths, or 6.1% of all registered deaths. The standardised death rate was 39.2 per 100,000 of population in 2008, a decrease from 44.6 per 100,000 population in 1999. Males were more likely to die from External causes than females in 2008. The standardised death rate for males was 56.1 per 100,000 compared with 23.3 females per 100,000.

In 2008, the median age at death from these causes was 52.3 years. The median age at death for External causes was considerably less than the median age of 80.9 years for all registered deaths in 2008. The median age at death for males dying of External causes was 46.8 years, with the median age at death for females 73.8 years.

Consistent with previous years, just over two-thirds of the total number of deaths resulting from External causes were males (5,819). The difference between the number of male and female deaths was most apparent amongst the 20-44 year age group, with 2,341 male deaths compared to 635 female deaths.

4.18 SELECTED UNDERLYING CAUSES(a), External Causes (V01-Y98) - 2008(b)(c)(d)
				Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of all deaths
Cause of Death and ICD Code				no.	no.	no.	%
CHAPTER XX External causes of morbidity and mortality (V01-Y98)				5 819	2 985	8 804	6.1
	Transport Accidents (V01-V99, Y85)(e)			1 036	366	1 402	1.0
	Other external causes of accidental injury (W00-X59)			1 925	1 544	3 469	2.4
		Falls (W00-W19)		645	703	1 348	0.9
		Exposure to inanimate mechanical forces (W20-W49)		79	6	85	0.1
			Struck by thrown, projected or falling object (W20)	24	2	26	-
		Accidental drowning and submersion (W65-W74)		130	29	159	0.1
			Drowning and submersion while in swimming-pool (W67)	15	6	21	-
			Drowning and submersion while in natural water (W69)	42	1	44	-
			Drowning and submersion following fall into natural water (W70)	28	4	31	-
			Unspecified drowning and submersion (W74)	33	8	41	-
		Other accidental threats to breathing (W75-W84)		127	81	208	0.1
			Inhalation of gastric contents (W78)	15	10	25	-
			Inhalation and ingestion of food causing obstruction of respiratory tract (W79)	34	24	58	-
			Inhalation and ingestion of other objects causing obstruction of respiratory tract (W80)	64	44	108	0.1
		Exposure to smoke, fire and flames (X00-X09)		50	22	72	0.1
			Exposure to uncontrolled fire in building or structure (X00)	34	13	47	-
		Exposure to forces of nature (X30-X39)		32	26	58	-
			Exposure to excessive natural cold (X31)	19	17	36	-
		Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances (X40-X49)		445	177	622	0.4
		Accidental exposure to other and unspecified factors (X58-X59)		389	489	878	0.6
			Exposure to unspecified factor (X59)	388	486	874	0.6
	Other external causes of mortality (X60-Y36)			2 670	890	3 560	2.5
		Intentional Self Harm (X60-X84, Y87.0)(f)		1 710	481	2 191	1.5
		Assault (X85-Y09, Y87.1)(g)		126	79	205	0.1
		Undetermined Intent (Y10-Y34, Y87.2)(h)		833	330	1 163	0.8
	Complications of medical and surgical care (Y40-Y84, Y88)			112	128	240	0.2
		Drugs, medicaments and biological substances causing adverse effects in therapeutic use (Y40-Y59)		21	27	48	-
			Surgical operation and other surgical procedures as the cause of abnormal reaction of the patient, or of later complication, without mention of misadventure at the time of the procedure (Y83)	77	92	169	0.1
	Sequelae of external causes of morbidity and mortality (Y85-Y89)			91	65	156	0.1
		Sequelae of other accidents (Y86)		69	57	126	0.1
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Causes selected are those with 20 or more deaths at the 3 digit level of ICD-10.
(b) 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.
(c) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process.
(d) 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.
(e) Includes Sequelae of transport accidents (Y85). Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to Transport accidents for 2008. See Explanatory Note 69 for further information.
(f) Includes Sequelae of suicide (Y87.0). Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to Suicide due to limitations of the data. See Explanatory Notes 72-75.
(g) Includes Sequelae of assault (Y87.1). Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to assault. See Explanatory Notes 70-71 for further details.
(h) Includes Sequelae of events of undetermined intent (Y87.2). For further information relating to this data, see Explanatory Note 76.