Cystic fibrosis mortality trends in Spain among infants and young children: 1981–2004

This paper sought to analyse mortality trends among infants and young children who died with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF) in Spain, during the period 1981–2004. Study design: Descriptive observational study, using joinpoint regression models. Participants: Data on cystic fibrosis deaths were drawn from the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística), which collects data from all death certificates in Spain. During the period 1981–2004, overall CF mortality in Spain decreased by an annual average of 4% in both sexes. A breakdown by age showed that patients under 15 years registered a declining and those over 15 years a rising mortality rate over the study period. Mean and median age at death from CF increased with time, from a median of 4.4 years (males) and 3.8 years (females) in 1981 to 20.1 years (males) and 17.7 years (females) in 2004. The results of this study show that, as in other Western countries, CF is no longer a major cause of death in childhood, and that the challenge now lies in caring for adults who suffer from this disease. The fact that our study was descriptive meant that the reasons for the decrease in CF mortality in Spain could not be identified. Other authors have shown that this decrease is associated with improved treatment for pulmonary complications, better nutritional control and lung transplants.