The cause of death is defined as the disease or injury which started the train (sequence) of morbid (disease-related) events which led directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury.
This definition is derived from the International classification of diseases (ICD) of the World Health Organization. Although international definitions are harmonised, the statistics may not be fully comparable among countries, as classifications may vary when the cause of death is multiple or difficult to evaluate, and because of different notification procedures.
Related concepts
- Antecedent cause
- Avoidable cause of death
- Competing cause of death
- Contributory cause of death
- Death
- External cause of death