ABSTRACT Several Central American countries are seeing continued growth in the number of deaths from chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes (CKDnT) among farm workers and there is underreporting. This report presents the results of a consensus process coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH). This consensus seeks to increase the probability of detecting and recording deaths from these causes. There has been recognition of the negative impact of the lack of a standardized instrument and the lack of training in the medical profession for adequate registration of the cause or causes of death. As a result of the consensus, the following has been proposed: temporarily use a code from the Codes for Special Purposes in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10); continue to promote use of the WHO international standardized instrument for recording causes and preceding events related to death; increase training of physicians responsible for filling out death certificates; take action to increase the coverage and quality of information on mortality; and create a decision tree to facilitate selection of CKDnT as a specific cause of death, while presenting the role that different regional and subregional mechanisms in the Region of the Americas should play in order to improve CKD and CKDnT mortality records.

RESUMEN En varios países centroamericanos se observa que el número de muertes por enfermedad renal crónica asociada a causas no tradicionales (ERCnt) entre trabajadores del campo continúa creciendo y existe un subregistro. Se presenta el resultado de un proceso de consenso coordinado por la Organización Panamericana de la Salud/Organización Mundial de la Salud (OPS/OMS), el Centro para el Control de Enfermedades de los Estados Unidos (CDC) y la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Nefrología e Hipertensión Arterial (SLANH). Este consenso busca aumentar la probabilidad de detectar y registrar las muertes por estas causas. Se reconoció el impacto negativo que tiene la falta de un instrumento estandarizado y la baja capacitación que se tiene en la profesión médica para un registro adecuado de la o las causas de muerte. Como resultado del consenso, se propone el uso de un código de la Lista para Propósitos Especiales (de manera temporaria) dentro de la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades (CIE-10), continuar con la promoción del uso del instrumento internacional estandarizado de la OMS para el registro de causas y eventos antecedentes relacionados con la muerte, aumentar el entrenamiento de los médicos responsables por el llenado del certificado de defunción, la realización de acciones para aumentar la completitud y calidad de la información de mortalidad, un algoritmo de decisión para facilitar la selección de la ERCnt como causa específica de muerte, presentando el papel que debieran tener los diferentes mecanismos regionales y subregionales en la región de las Américas para mejorar la situación del registro de mortalidad por ERC y ERCnt.

Background: Suicide is an important public health problem accounting for an important proportion of deaths in Chile. Aim: To describe trends in suicide mortality in Chile between 1998 and 2011, by year, region, sex and age. Material and Methods: A population survey study was conducted using suicide mortality data of Chile from 1998 to 2011, provided by the statistics department of the Ministry of Health, Coroners' offices and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). Age-adjusted suicide mortality rates were calculated per 100,000 habitants. Variables analyzed included year, age, sex, etiology and geographical distribution. An analysis of the average annual variation (AAV) was performed and the logarithm of the age-adjusted rates by year and region was fitted by applying linear regression models. Relative risks (RR) by sex, geographical distribution and age were also calculated. Results: The mean suicide rate in Chile, was 12.11 per 100.000 in the period 2000-2011. The rates were higher in men, with a higher AAV in women and a relative risk for men was 5.14 higher than in women. The rates were higher in the southern regions of the country. Atacama had the highest AAV. By age, the rates are consistently higher in subjects aged 40 to 59 years until 2006, when this pattern started to change. Between 2006 and 2009, subjects aged 25-39 years had the highest rates. Subjects aged 0 to 14 years, exhibit the highest AAV. Conclusions: The distribution of suicide rates by sex in Chile is similar to other countries, but it is different by age. The age range with the highest suicide rates changed over time.