Variation in Cause-Specific Mortality Rates in Italy during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study Based on Nationwide Data.

ABSTRACT: Italy was a country severely hit by the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic wave in early 2020. Mortality studies have focused on the overall excess mortality observed during the pandemic. This paper investigates the cause-specific mortality in Italy from March 2020 to April 2020 and the variation in mortality rates compared with those in 2015-2019 regarding sex, age, and epidemic area. Causes of death were derived from the national cause-of-death register. COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among males and the second leading cause among females. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertensive, ischemic heart, and cerebrovascular diseases, with decreasing or stable mortality rates in 2015-2019, showed a reversal in the mortality trend. Moreover, mortality due to pne

SUBMITTER: Grande E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8776013 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature