title: [Mortality from renal causes of death in an Italian population under 20 years of age in the 1979-1991 period].
abstract: The present paper addresses mortality from urinary diseases (ICD9 codes 580-599) in the Italian pediatric population aged 0-19 years, in the period 1979-91. Mortality data were obtained from the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). A total number of 522 deaths were recorded among people aged 0-19 years, amounting to 0.33% of all casualties. Half of these deaths were due to renal failure (ICD9 codes: 584-586). While mortality from all causes decreased by 35% among the Italian pediatric population, mortality from urinary diseases remained stable during the same period, and even increased in the age range 0-4 years (from 3.47 per million person-years in 1979 to 9.83 per million person-years in 1990; p < 0.001). This outbreak in mortality was entirely due to an increase in casualties from acute renal failure (ICD9 code: 584). In conclusion, since the increase in mortality from urinary diseases among Italian children aged 0-4 years takes place in the presence of a substantial drop in mortality from all causes, attention should be paid to this problem and surveillance systems should be reinforced.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Statistica Medica, Università di Verona, Italia.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verlato
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fanos
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tatò
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Marco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000401:mortality*
vernacular_title: Mortalità per cause renali nella popolazione italiana al di sotto dei 20 anni nel periodo 1979-1991.