Statistical analysis of the cause of death in Korea in 2019

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to present and analyze the causes of death in the Korean population in 2019.Methods: Based on the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases and Causes of Death and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, cause-of-death data for 2019 from Statistics Korea were examined.Results: There were 295,110 total deaths, a decrease of 3,710 (-1.27%) from 2018. The crude death rate (the number of deaths per 100,000 people) was 574.8, a decrease of 7.6 (-1.3%) from 2018. The top ten causes of death, in descending order, were malignant neoplasms, heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, intentional self-harm, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer disease, liver disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, and hypertension. Within the malignant neoplasm category, the top five organs affected were the lung, liver, colon, stomach, and pancreas (in the same order as in 2018). Alzheimer disease moved up from ninth to seventh on the list of leading causes of death in 2018. Among women, it ranked as the fifth leading cause of death, while pneumonia became the third leading cause of death.Conclusion: These changes reflect the increasing number of women > 65 years who are vulnerable to cognitive impairment and infectious diseases. The Korean government must urgently take preventive and therapeutic measures against dementia, especially Alzheimer disease.

Cause-of-death statistics in 2020 in the Republic of Korea

“…The data collection and analysis methods were the same as those of the previous study on cause-ofdeath statistics from 2016 study [2] to the 2018-2019 studies [3,4]. Data were obtained from death certificates issued in 2020 for Korean people who had resided in the Republic of Korea [5].…”

“…The year 2018 was the first year that life expectancy did not increase since 1970 [3]. However, a followup report showed that life expectancy increased in both 2019 [4] and 2020.…”

“…The mortality rate due to diseases of the circulatory system increased by 3.3% in 2020 from 2019. It is evident that the decrease in deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system in 2019 reflects the underlying effect of the heat and cold waves in 2018 [4]…”

“…up report on the same statistical data for 2020. In the 2019 data, a topic of particular interest was Alzheimer disease, which rose to the seventh leading cause of death [4]. In contrast, 2020 marked the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).…”

Now is the time to consider reducing the total ischemic time

“…This is also true for South Korea, where cardiovascular diseases have consistently been a major cause of death for nearly a decade. An analysis of the trends of the causes of death in Korea from 2009 to 2019 revealed that malignant neoplasms were the most prevalent, followed by cardiovascular diseases [ 2 ]. Notably, when considered as an individual organ disorder, deaths attributable to heart disease were the highest, with a steadily increasing proportion.…”