Injury deaths
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The underlying cause of death (UCoD) code represents the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading to a person’s death, according to information available to the coder. If a death was due to an injury, the ICD-10 requires that the external cause be entered as the UCoD.
Multiple causes of death (MCoD) codes represent all the morbid conditions, diseases and injuries which are listed on the death certificate. They include all the factors in the morbid train of events leading to death: the underlying cause, the immediate cause, any intervening causes, and any conditions that contributed. This is especially helpful for chronic conditions, which often involve more than one illness.
Coding is according to the ICD-10 (WHO 2019), which includes a chapter for injuries and another for external causes.
Inclusion criteria
A death due to injury is defined by 2 criteria:
- The UCoD was an external cause code in the range V01–Y36
- At least one MCoD was an external cause in the range V01–X59 or Y10–Y34, and at least one other was a code for an injury (S00–T75 or T79). MCoD is not considered for records where the UCoD indicates self-harm or assault.
The sum of deaths by cause may be greater than the total number of injury deaths because some deaths are due to multiple causes.
Deaths data are commonly recorded according to the calendar year in which the death was registered. However, in this report data are presented according to the financial year in which each death occurred.
Categorising causes of death
The code range V01–Y36 includes all unintentional (accidental) deaths, intentional self-harm (suicide), homicides, and deaths where intent remained undetermined. These codes provide information around the circumstances of the death, such as details of a transport accident, drowning, asphyxiation, effects of radiation, heat, pressure, deprivation, and maltreatment.
The code range S00–T75 and T79 includes traumatic injuries (such as fractures and lacerations), burns, poisoning and toxic effects of substances. The codes also provide information about the single, multiple, or unspecified body regions affected such as head, shoulder, knee and foot.
| External cause | Cause-specific criteria |
|---|---|
Transport | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Drowning | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Choking and suffocation | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Accidental poisoning | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Falls | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. The codes for fractures are S02, S12, S22, S32, S42, S52, S62, S72, S82, S92, T02, T08, T10, T12, and T14.2. |
Thermal causes | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Contact with objects | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Electricity and air pressure | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Contact with living things | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Exposure to forces of nature | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Overexertion, travel and privation | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
Suicide and homicide deaths (UCoD X60–Y09) were excluded. |
Suicide | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
|
Homicide | Records that included the following ICD 10 codes were included:
|
Event of undetermined intent | Records that included the following ICD‑10 codes were included:
|
Analysis methods
The Australian ERP as at 30 June 2001 is used as the standardising population throughout the report. Age‑standardisation of rates enables valid comparison across years and/or jurisdictions without being affected by differences in age distributions.
Population‑based rates of injury tend to have similar values from one year to the next. Exceptions to this can occur (for example, due to a mass‑casualty disaster), but are unusual in Australian injury data. Some year‑on‑year variation and short‑run fluctuations are to be expected, so small changes in a rate over a short period do not provide a firm basis for asserting that a trend is present.
All rate calculations utilise a denominator based on the estimated resident population (ERP) calculated as at the midpoint of each financial year. For example, for the reporting period 2021–22, the denominator population is the June 2021 ERP + the June 2022 ERP, divided by 2. This is used as the denominator for age‑specific/crude and age‑standardised rates. Rates are calculated for each financial year unless otherwise noted.
| Measure | Numerator | Denominator | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|
Population (used for rates) | June 2022 population + June 2023 population | 2 | Numerator ÷ Denominator |
Crude or age-specific mortality rate | Number of injury deaths per defined category (e.g. age group) | Estimated Australian population as at mid-point of financial year | (Numerator ÷ Denominator) x 100,000 |
Age-standardised mortality rate (ASR). ASRs were derived using 5-year age groups up to 85+. ASRs for First Nation populations were derived using 5-year age groups up to 65+. | Expected events per age group in standard population= crude mortality rate x standard population (for each corresponding age group) | n.a. | The direct method of standardisation is used. (Sum of numerators across all age groups ÷ total standard population) x 100,000 |
Change in rates | n.a. | n.a. | Estimated trends in age-standardised rates were reported as average annual percentage changes. |
n.a. Not Applicable
Timeseries
10-year time series rates may not match historically published rates due to changes in denominator data over time, jurisdictional updates in numerator data or retrospective refreshing of numerator or denominator data across different data sources.
Presentation of data
The sum of the counts of death by cause may be greater than the total number of injury deaths because some cases of death have multiple causes which contributed to the death. Cases with multiple causes are counted once per cause group.
Persons totals include deaths for which sex was not reported.
All age totals include deaths where age was not reported.
Crude/age-specific rates and age-standardised rates are calculated per 100,000 population and are rounded to 1 decimal place (e.g. 3.4 per 100,000).
Data suppression and confidentiality
Data may be suppressed to maintain the privacy or confidentiality of a person, or because a proportion or other measure is related to a small number of events and may therefore not be reliable. Data may also be suppressed to avoid attribute disclosure. The abbreviation ‘n.p.’ (not published) has been used in tables to denote these suppressions. The suppressed information remains in the totals.
Counts
- Counts of 1and 2 are suppressed and consequential suppression is applied.
- First Nations counts of 1 and 2 are suppressed and consequential suppression is applied.
- Combined 0–14 age group for the self-harm category.
Crude rates
- Crude rates with counts (numerator for calculation) less than 10, are suppressed.
- If the corresponding counts measure is suppressed, the crude rate has been suppressed.
Age-standardised rates
- Age-standardised rates with counts (numerator for calculation) less than 20 are suppressed.
- If the corresponding counts measure is suppressed, the age-standardised rate has been suppressed.
Z-score
No suppression applied.
Data quality
The data quality statements underpinning the AIHW National Mortality Database can be found in the following Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publications:
- ABS quality declaration summary for Deaths, Australia methodology
- ABS quality declaration summary for Causes of Death, Australia methodology
- For more information on the AIHW National Mortality Database see Deaths data at AIHW.
Please also refer to the interactive timeline for details of changes in deaths data over time.
Errors in deaths data
The data presented in this report are subject to 2 types of statistical error, non-random and random (a third type of statistical error, sampling error, does not apply in this report, because none of the data sources used involved probability sampling).
Non-random error
Some level of non-random error is to be expected in administrative data collections, such as the NMD on which this report relies. For example, non-random error could occur if the approach to assigning cause codes to deaths were to differ systematically between jurisdictions, or over time. While systems are in place to encourage uniform data collection, and coding and scrutiny of data during analysis include checking for patterns that might reflect non-random error, some error remains.
Random error
The values presented in the report are subject to random error, or variation. Variation is relatively large when the case count is small (especially if less than about 10). Variation is small enough to be mostly unimportant when the case count is larger (that is, more than a few tens of cases).
Some of the topics for which results are reported compare groups that vary widely in case count, largely due to differences in population size (for example, the population of New South Wales is more than 30 times as large as the Northern Territory population, and the population of Major cities is nearly 90 times that of Very remote areas). In this situation, year‑to‑year changes in counts or rates for the smaller-population groups might be subject to large random variation. Such fluctuations could potentially be misinterpreted as meaningful rises or falls.