title: [Diabetes mellitus mortality among elderly as an underlying or secondary cause of death].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze diabetes mellitus-related mortality among elderly and the rate of undereporting of diabetes mellitus as a cause of death when statistical data on diabetes exclusively on the underlying cause of death are considered.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2.974 death certificates of elderly people living in a housing project in the city of Rio de Janeiro were revised. The study period was 1994. Of them, 291 deaths were due to diabetes mellitus, 150 as the underlying and 141 as the secondary cause of death. The proportion of deaths where diabetes was stated as the underlying cause in relation to the total of diabetes deaths was calculated globally and categorized by sex and age groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 291 deaths studied, 138 (47.4%) were men and 153 (52.6%) were women. Mortality rates showed a continuous age increase and were higher among men, though sex difference was smaller when only the underlying cause was considered. It was found a higher proportion of deaths (22%) occurring at home. Overall rate of diabetes deaths as the underlying cause was 51.5%, with higher rates seen in women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The analysis of mortality statistics based exclusively on the underlying cause of death can yield misleading profiles due to unrandomized underreporting. There is a need of further studies with diabetic elderly cohorts for a more accurate mortality analysis in this population group.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. coeli@nesc.ufrj.br
authors.forename: Cláudia Medina
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Coeli
authors.forename: Luis Guilherme Francisco Duarte
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Mônica de Miranda
authors.initials: Mde M
authors.lastname: Drbal Md
authors.forename: Renato Peixoto
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Veras
authors.forename: Kenneth Rochel de
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.forename: Angela Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cascao
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002423:Cause of Death; D003644:Death Certificates; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
vernacular_title: Mortalidade em idosos por diabetes mellitus como causa básica e associada.