Cause of death

Cause of death, meaning the underlying cause of death, is (a) the disease or disorder that initiates the causal chain of diseases or disorders leading directly to death (natural cause of death); (b) the circumstances of the accident or violence causing the injury that initiated the causal chain of morbid events leading directly to death (external cause of death). The causes of death are coded according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health (ICD10, 10th revision) of the World Health Organization.

This information is based on: INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR CERTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION (CODING) OF COVID-19 AS CAUSE OF DEATH

Other causes of death

Cancer
In this news release, cancer is defined as: malignant neoplasms classified in ICD-10 codes: C00-C97.

Cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular diseases is a collective term for a large number of diseases related to the heart and the circulation, such as heart infarcts, heart failure, brain hemorrhage or aneurysm of the aorta. (ICD10-codes: I00-I99)

Mental and behavioural disorders and diseases of the nervous system
A mental/behavioural disorder is a disorder in the brain which affects personality, behaviour, thinking or emotional life (ICD-10 codes: F00-F99). Diseases of the nervous system are coded in G00-G99.

Suicide
The victim has an explicit death wish and acts accordingly by taking his/her own life. These causes of death are coded in X60-X84 of the ICD-10.

Traffic deaths
A traffic death is: “a road user who has died as a result of a sudden accident on a public road on Dutch territory, related to traffic, in which at least one moving vehicle was involved. The victim died within 30 days of the accident.” Contrary to the mortality definitions in the rest of the article, this relates to both persons registered in the Municipal Personal Records Database (BRP) and persons who are not registered in the BRP.