The reconstruction of the causes of death by the MODICOD method in the socio-sanitary analysis. From ICD-9 to ICD-10 at a fourth-digit level

Abstract

Despite the accumulated knowledge about mortality and longevity, it is essential to know in the depth of the fourth phase of the Epidemiological Transition in which Spain, like other neighboring countries, is in to anticipate a new step in the Health Transition as well as its impact in the coming years. In this context, the analysis of the data of the causes of death is necessary in order to follow its evolution and changes. However, the codification of causes of death is interrupted by the successive revisions to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). For this reason, the methodology of the reconstruction of causes of death proposed by France Meslé and Jacques Vallin (1988, 1996) is used and applied in the countries that are part of the international network Mortality, Divergence and Causes of Death (MODICOD) and in which the authors participate in representation of Spain. The present work describes the phases of this protocol and exemplifies it with the date of Spanish causes of death for the period 1980 to 2015, reconstructing series between ICD-9 and ICD-10. The results obtained ensuring the monitoring of 6,902 rubrics of continuous and homogenized causes of death at a fourth digit level of the ICD-10, which for the first time is established at a level of the fourth digit of the ICD-10, that are configured as a demographic-epidemiological methodological instrument.