Article

AIM: To investigate causes of death and age at death in cerebral palsy subjects
compared with the general population. METHOD: Analysis of data supplied by the
centre of epidemiology on the medical causes of death within the National
Institute of Health and Medical Research in France was conducted. Three thousand
and thirty-one death certificates indicating a diagnosis of cerebral palsy
(ICD-10 code G80) were reported between 2000 and 2008. RESULTS: Median age at
death was between 45-54 years and principal cause of death (24%) comprised the
category "symptoms, signs, and abnormal results of clinical and laboratory tests,
not classified elsewhere". Of these, 66% were related to the circulatory and
respiratory systems. "Diseases of the respiratory system" were the second most
common cause of death (19% compared with 6% in the French general population).
The third most common cause of death was "diseases of the circulatory system"
(15% compared with 29% in the French general population). While deaths caused by
tumour pathologies in the general population are the most common cause of deaths,
these represented only 7% of deaths in subjects with cerebral palsy.
INTERPRETATION: These results concur with other published data, i.e. subjects
with cerebral palsy die younger than the French general population, and the
principal causes of death are respiratory and circulatory problems. This study
emphasises the importance of access to epidemiological data about the French
cerebral palsy population.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS ; FRANCAIS