title: [Mortality due to ill-defined causes in Brazil (1979-2002) and a predictive model for age].
abstract: This study focused on the percentage of deaths due to ill-defined causes in Brazil, from 1979 to 2002. The objectives were to: (a) describe changes over the 24-year period; (b) identify the age group in which the percentage of ill-defined causes correlated most closely with the total percentage of ill-defined causes; (c) select a predictive model for the percentage of ill-defined causes in such age group, given the total percentage of ill-defined causes; (d) describe changes in the distributions of each age group in the total ill-defined causes; and (e) verify whether the percentage of deaths in-hospital shows any relationship to the percentage of ill-defined causes. Results showed that the total percentage of deaths from ill-defined causes decreased in Brazil. The percentage of ill-defined causes in the > 50-year age group correlated most closely with the total percentage of ill-defined causes, and cubic regression was the most appropriate predictive model. Age > 50 showed the highest increase in its share of total ill-defined causes from 1979 to 2002. The percentage of in-hospital deaths showed an inverse relationship with the percentage of deaths from ill-defined causes.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Sistema Estadual de Análise de Dados, Rua Hematita 223, São Paulo, Brazil. mcosta@seade.gov.br
authors.forename: Marli Ramos da
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Luiz Francisco
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Marcopito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors