ABSTRACT
Objective
This study explored the change in mortality rates of respiratory disease during the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methods
Death data of registered residents of Suzhou from 2014 to 2020 were collected and the weekly mortality rates due to respiratory disease and all deaths were analyzed. The differences in mortality rates during the pandemic and the same period in previous years were compared.
Results
Before the pandemic, the crude mortality rate (CMR) and standardized mortality rate (SMR) of Suzhou residents including respiratory disease, were not much different from those in previous years. During the emergency period, the CMR of Suzhou residents was 180.2/100,000 and the SMR was 85.5/100,000, decreasing by 9.1% and 14.6%, respectively; the CMR of respiratory disease was 16.4/100,000 and the SMR was 6.8/100,000, down 41.4% and 44.9%, respectively. Regardless of the mortality rates of all deaths or respiratory disease, the rates were higher in males than in females, although males had aslightly greater decrease in all deaths during the emergency period compared with females, and the opposite was true for respiratory disease.
Conclusion
During the pandemic, the death rate of residents decreased, especially that due to respiratory disease.
Article highlights
This is the first report to explore the change in mortality rates due to respiratory disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, the mortality rate of residents decreased, especially that due to respiratory disease.
Regardless of the mortality rates of all deaths or respiratory disease, the rates were higher in males than in females.
Males had aslightly greater decrease in all deaths during the emergency period compared with females, and the opposite was true for respiratory disease.
Epidemic control measures are necessary.
Acknowledgments
The staff at all levels of city who are responsible for the cause of death monitoring have done a lot of work in data registration, collation and quality control. We would like to express our sincere gratitude here.
Declaration of interest
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with afinancial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
Reviewer disclosures
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.