Causes of death in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Based on Analysis of Causes of National Deaths for Action)
Analysis of Causes of National Deaths for Action (AnaCONDA) is a tool for checking the quality of mortality data. In particular, it will help identify probable errors, misdiagnoses and inconsistencies in the mortality and causes of death data. It is a tool jointly developed by the University of Melbourne and the Swiss Public Health Institute at the University of Basel.
41.5 percent of deaths in ARMM caused by non-communicable diseases
Deaths are categorized into three Global Burden of Disease (GBD) broad groups: Group 1 (Communicable diseases), Group 2 (Non-communicable diseases) and Group 3 (External causes). The results of 2015 Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (2015 CRVS) showed that in ARMM, 41.5 percent of deaths in ARMM were caused by non-communicable diseases (see Fig. 1). As the region develop their health systems, communicable diseases will increasingly be brought under control and the fraction of deaths due to non-communicable conditions will increase.
The mortality ratio of Group 2 to Group 1 in ARMM (3.5) differs significantly from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates for GBD region reference value (2.6) (see Table 1). Thus, it follows that the quality cause of death (COD) diagnosis in the input data was poor due to under-reported deaths of Group 2 relative to Group 1.
| Source | Ratio of Group 2 to Group 1 | Reference Year |
| IHME estimates for GBD region | 2.6 | 2010 |
| Phil. mortality data source: 2015 CRVS | 3.5 | 2015 |
37.9 percent of the remaining deaths in ARMM were unusable and insufficiently specified causes of death
In ARMM, 37.9 percent of the remaining deaths were unusable and insufficiently specified causes of death, of which 19.9 percent were unusable causes and the remaining 18 percent were insufficiently specified causes. Thus, it follows that the quality of input cause of death data in the region is poor and the utility for public policy is low.
Ischemic heart disease caused 10.2 percent of male deaths in ARMM
Out of the top 10 leading causes of male deaths in ARMM based on GBD list of COD, ischemic heart disease tallied as the most leading cause which were 10.2 percent of the male deaths in the region, followed by assault by firearm and hypertensive heart disease which were 9.9 percent and 5.1 percent of the regions’ male deaths, respectively. Same to the regions’ male deaths, ischemic heart disease also tallied as the most leading cause which were 8.2 percent of the female deaths in the region, followed by hypertensive heart disease and tuberculosis which were 5.4 percent and 4.0 percent of the regions’ female deaths, respectively.
Completeness of death reporting was the main priority action area to improve data quality in ARMM
Among all regions in Philippines, ARMM has the lowest Vital Statistics Performance Index Quality (VSPI (Q)) summary score which recorded 20.3 percent and was the only region to record “very low” in terms of VSPI (Q) classification (see Table 4). It clearly shows that the region has a poor functioning mortality data system.
Of all the five components in getting the VSPI (Q) of the region, completeness of death reporting has the lowest weighted score (26.2 percent). Thus, ARMM needed to strive effort in this priority action area (76 percent) to improve the mortality data quality of the region (see Figure 3).
