[Mortality among young people: causes and background]

To study the mortality pattern among adolescents and young adults (15-24 years of age) in the Netherlands, 1983- 1992.

Retrospective study.

Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Statistics Netherlands).

Based on central registration and coding of all cause of death certificates in the Netherlands, the results of 10 years for the age group of 15-24 years were arranged according to the Chapters of ICD-9 and subdivided where necessary. Changes during this period were also studied. The findings were compared with those obtained in other countries.

Most young people (61.5% of the men, 45.2% of the women) died of external causes. Traffic accidents and suicide ranked first and second in this category. Among natural causes, (malignant) neoplasms were most important, followed by diseases of the nervous system and sensory organs, diseases of the circulatory system and congenital anomalies. There was a group of 8.8% classified as 'symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions' of which over 90% were registered as 'cause unknown', mainly (65.8%) due to missing certificates of young people who died abroad. The course in time showed a slight decrease of all causes, particularly of external causes. Compared with other countries (Europe, USA) the results in the Netherlands stand out favourably.

A further decline of mortality in young people could be achieved by unrelenting efforts to prevent traffic accidents and other accidental or suicidal deaths. Apart from this, life expectancy in the young will gain by prevention and/or early treatment of malignancies, infectious diseases and congenital conditions. A higher autopsy rate would solve some uncertainties.