Background:

Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (DM2) constitutes a global public health problem with high morbidity and mortality rate. Studies reported cardiovascular disease as the main direct cause of death in diabetics, while others attributed it to respiratory diseases. However, in our setting, it is still a question. The objective of our study was to determine the main direct causes of death in diabetic patients of Peru.

Material and Methods:

Observational, descriptive study. We collected the data from the registry of the “Sistema Informático Nacional de Defunciones” (SINADEF) of Peru from 2017 to 2020. We selected the registries whose ICD-10 corresponds to DM2 to describe the characteristics of the deceased, the direct causes of death and the annual trend of the first five causes.

Results:

The main direct causes of death in diabetic patients were diseases of the respiratory system (28,0%), diseases of the circulatory system (25,4%) and certain infectious and parasitic diseases (15,0%). In addition, the most affected population was males (50,3%), older adults (76,4%) from the coast region (63,6%). The trend was increasing in the first five causes of death, with the greatest slope between 2019 and 2020 for diseases of the respiratory system (rate 1.40 and 2.96) and diseases of the circulatory system (rate 0.98 and 2.86).

Conclusions:

The main direct causes of death were diseases of the respiratory and circulatory system. The region with the highest number of deaths was the coast. The trend of the top five causes of death was increasing, with a greater slope between 2019 and 2020.

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