[Mortality in Norway by time of year, day of the week and date of birth].
BACKGROUND
The number of deaths increases in winter, and there are also reports on variation by day of week.


METHODS
Records of all deaths in Norway from 1991 to 1995, a total of 225 439, were provided by Statistics Norway.


RESULTS
On average, the yearly number of excess deaths in winter was 2589, or 12 %. These excess deaths were mainly caused by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; no increase was observed in death from cancer. The excess winter mortality was observed only among elderly women (starting at 71 years of age) and men (age 68) and was particularly strong in years with influenza epidemics. On Mondays, 3 % more deaths occurred than on Saturdays; this difference was mainly due to cardiovascular diseases.


CONCLUSIONS
Dying on a Monday is somewhat more likely than on the other weekdays, and elderly men and women are more likely to die during winter than in the rest of the year.
Brenn
Tormod
T
Institutt for samfunnsmedisin, Universitet i Tromsø. tormod.brenn@ism.uit.no
Ytterstad
Elinor
E
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010507:Periodicity; D012042:Registries; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution