Mapping the cause-specific premature mortality reveals large between-districts disparity in Belgium, 2003-2009

Background Reducing premature mortality is a crucial public health objective. The goal of this paper, beside updating previous mortality atlases with recent data, is to explore the relative betweendistricts disparity using a relative-scale map design. Methods Causes of deaths and population data were provided by Statistics Belgium. All deaths occurring in the periods 1993-1999 and 2003-2009, in people aged 1-74 residing in Belgium were included. Age-adjusted rates by cause of death were computed for both periods; the 2003-2009 rates were classified using a relative scale with a 10% change betw... Mehr ...