Asma en Chile: Tendencia de la mortalidad 1992-2017

Abstract

Objectives: Asthma, a public health problem, has variable global mortality rates. In Chile, there are no studies to report on the national situation. This study analyzes the mortality trend in Chilean adults over a period of 26 years. Methods: Using data from the Department of Health Sta- tistics and Information and the National Institute of Statistics, asthma mortality rates 1992-2017 were calculated in people > 15 years-old. To avoid the impact of age changes, adjusted mortality rates were calculated using a direct adjustment method using the 2017 population as a reference. Joinpoint was used to calculate the slope of adjusted rates, and Excel STATA version13 was used for data analysis. Results: Over the 26-year period, there were 5,749 asthma-related deaths, with an average of 221 events per year. Age-adjusted mortality rates decreased significantly from 3.26 in 1992 to 1.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, with an average annual decline of -3.3%. The highest proportion of deaths occurred in people 65 years of age or older, accounting for 79% of cases in 1992 and 88% of cases in 2017. Conclusions: In Chile trends in asthma mortality rates age-adjusted show a significant decrease in the 26 years covered by this study, a decrease that is less pronounced in the last 15 years.