BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

222 Patternsof Mortalityin Childhood
TAnLz 130. Nutritional Deficiency as Associated Cause of Deaths from Malignant Neoplasms in Children
Under 5 Years of Age in 15 Projects Combined.
Type
Total ...........................
Leukemia .......................
Other neoplasms .................
Total deaths
from malignant
neoplasms
163
80
83
Nutritional deficiency as associated cause
Total Consequence Contributory
48 41 7
12 7 6
36 34 2
Other primary malignant neoplasms
of lymphoid tissue (202.2) ....... 1
The classifications of the rest of the malignant
neoplasms (61 deaths) were:
Retinoblastoma and other mnalignant
neoplasms of the eye (190) ...... 11
Wilms' tumor (189.0) ............. 13
Malignant neol)lasmns of sympathetic
nervous system (neuroblastoma)
(192.5) ........................ 13
Malignant neoplasms of brain (191) 8
Other mnalignant neoplasms (rest of
140-209)................... 16
The relationship to nutritional deficiency
(Table 130) was distinctly different from
that found for the infectious diseases. In
only seven deaths from malignant diseases
was nutritional deficiency a contributory
cause, but in 41 it was a consequence. Thus,
in contrast to a disease like measles, which
causes death in the malnourished child,
these diseases developed in children without
evidence of such deficiency, except in seven
(4.3 per cent).
Pneumonia developed as a consequence in
32 children and septicelmia in 12. In five
deaths, ascariasis or trichuriasis was a contributory
cause. In one death of a 3-yearold-child
due to leukemia, Down's disease
was an associated cause. In eight other
deaths a minor congenital anomaly was reported.
Of the 146 children aged 1-4 years
who died from leukemia and other malignant
neoplasms, six had minor anomalies
(4.1 per cent). By comparison, of the 7,493
deaths of children in that age group from all
causes minor anomalies occurred in only 97
(1.3 per cent). Though the difference in
these percentages was small (and may be
due to the quality of diagnostic information),
it is sufficient to suggest the need for
further research into associations of minor
anomalies with malignant neoplasms.
In the analysis of mortality by educational
level of the mother (Chapter XIV) it
is reported that the proportion of deceased
children of mothers who had no education
or only one or two years of primary
schooling was higher in the 1-4 age group
than in the neonatal period. Of those whose
mothers had secondary or university education,
51.5 per cent died in the neonatal
period, compared with 24.3 per cent for
pe those whose come mothers ithad er no education. cen f A
relationship between education as a soeioeconomic
indicator and mortality from malignant
neoplasms can also be sought. Since
the numbers of deaths were small the coinbined
data for the 13 Latin American projects
are presented (Table 131). A marked
contrast in the percentages is evident; 4.2
per cent of the deceased children whose
mothers had secondary or university edu­