---

16 July 2009 : Column 625W—continued

Death

Anne Milton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many death certificates mentioning (a) methadone, (b) cannabis, (c) benzodiazepine, (d) barbiturates, (e) steroids and (f) stimulants were issued in each of the last five years. [287370]

Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked it to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many death certificates mentioning (a) methadone, (b) cannabis, (c) benzodiazepine, (d) barbiturates, (e) steroids and (f) stimulants were issued in each of the last five years. (287370)

The table attached provides the numbers of deaths where the underlying cause was drug poisoning and (a) methadone, (b) cannabis, (c) benzodiazepines (d) barbiturates or (e) steroids were mentioned on the death certificate, either alone or together with other substances, in England and Wales, from 2003 to 2007 (the latest year available).

Where more than one drug is mentioned on the death certificate, it is not always possible to tell which of them was primarily responsible for the death.

Figures for deaths where stimulants are mentioned on the death certificate are not available. Stimulants include a broad range of substances, such as amphetamines and ecstasy, but there is no official definition that is used for statistical purposes.

Table 1: Number of deaths where drug poisoning was the underlying cause of death( 1) and methadone, cannabis, benzodiazepines, barbiturates or steroids were mentioned on the death certificate, England and Wales( 2) , 2003-07( 3)
Deaths
	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Methadone	201	219	220	241	325
Cannabis	11	19	19	17	12
Benzodiazepines	224	233	190	177	207
Barbiturates	20	16	14	17	6
Steroids	0	0	1	3	0
(1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (shown in the following table) and where the substances were mentioned on the death certificate either alone or together with other substances. (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

16 July 2009 : Column 626W

ICD-10	Description
F11-F16, F18-F19	Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco)
X40-X44	Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances
X60-X64	Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances
X85	Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances
Y10-Y14	Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent

Anne Milton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) men and (b) women aged (i) under 20, (ii) 21-30, (iii) 31-40, (iv) 41-50, (v) 51-60 and (vi) 61 years and above died from an underlying cause which was (A) obesity-related, (B) diabetes-related, (C) drug-related, (D) eating disorder-related and (E) related to a sexually transmitted infection in each of the last 10 years. [287377]

Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) men and (b) women aged (i) under 20, (ii) between 21 and 30, (iii) between 31 and 40, (iv) between 41 and 50, (v) between 51 and 60 and (vi) 61 years and above died from an underlying cause which was (A) obesity-related, (B) diabetes-related, (C) drug-related, (D) eating disorder-related and (E) related to a sexually transmitted infection in each of the last 10 years. (287377)

The tables attached provide the number of deaths for (a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 21⁽¹⁾, (ii) 21-30, (iii) 31-40, (iv) 41-50, (v) 51-60 and (vi) 61 years and over, where the underlying cause was (1) obesity (Table 1), (2) diabetes (Table 2), (3) an eating disorder (Table 3) or (4) a sexually transmitted infection (Table 4), in England and Wales, 1999 to 2008 (the latest year available), or (5) drug poisoning, in England and Wales, 1998 to 2007 (the latest year available) (Table 5).

The figures provided in Tables 1 to 4 reflect the number of deaths certified as due to the specified conditions. It is not possible to identify all deaths 'related' to these conditions. For example, obesity may play an important role in deaths due to heart disease or diabetes, but is rarely recorded on the death certificate. The figures presented for obesity in Table 1 are therefore likely to underestimate the actual number of deaths in which this factor is involved.

It is likely that the figures in Table 3 underestimate the actual number of deaths where an eating disorder was involved. This is because deaths registered after a coroner's inquest usually state the immediate physical condition which caused death as the underlying cause, and not any mental or behavioural disorder which may have led to that condition.

ONS monitors deaths from drug-related poisoning using a special database, developed to enable the analysis of deaths by the specific substances involved.

The deaths included are certified by Coroners following post-mortem and inquest. Figures for 1998 to 2007 have been provided as figures for 2008 are not yet available.

⁽¹⁾ The specified age group 'under 20' has been amended to 'under 21' so as not to exclude deaths at age 20 from the table.

16 July 2009 : Column 627W

16 July 2009 : Column 628W

Table: Number of deaths where the underlying cause was obesity( 1) , England and Wales( 2) , 1999-2008( 3,4)
Deaths
Sex/age group	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Males
Under21	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
21-30	3	4	0	2	4	4	2	3	3	2
31-40	12	12	10	5	13	12	15	14	20	15
41-50	8	12	17	19	16	13	18	25	28	36
51-60	11	17	24	21	17	23	31	26	35	34
61+	15	21	18	19	25	30	24	30	32	47
Females
Under21	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21-30	1	4	2	2	3	2	3	3	5	8
31-40	7	11	13	14	10	9	8	15	10	17
41-50	18	12	18	18	30	22	21	23	18	30
51-60	24	17	22	22	42	39	38	41	34	43
61+	61	51	62	54	67	63	72	81	76	106
(1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 278.0 (Obesity) for the years 1999-2000 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code E66 (Obesity) for 2001 onwards. (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional.

Table 2: Number of deaths where the underlying cause was diabetes( 1) , England and Wales( 2) , 1999-2008( 3,4)
Deaths
Sex/age group	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Males
Under 21	3	7	2	6	7	5	4	5	4	6
21-30	21	14	18	18	17	16	19	18	15	29
31-40	54	54	55	50	57	54	37	45	33	47
41-50	84	94	104	86	90	91	106	98	75	83
51-60	230	187	237	204	205	182	180	166	153	167
61+	2,422	2,334	2,538	2,541	2,559	2,374	2,292	2,236	2,241	2,317
Females
Under21	10	3	7	6	5	5	8	6	7	5
21-30	5	14	9	13	9	12	9	16	23	17
31-40	22	43	35	49	30	28	29	32	37	20
41-50	59	45	44	57	61	56	54	55	69	66
51-60	124	119	104	128	149	115	108	122	109	101
61+	2,915	2,848	3,001	3,029	3,124	2,908	2,799	2,691	2,667	2,683
(1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 250 (Diabetes mellitus) for the years 1999-2000 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes E10-E14 (Diabetes mellitus) for 2001 onwards . (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional.

---