Pattern of diarrhoeal deaths during 1966-1987 in a demographic surveillance area in rural Bangladesh.

Death pattern was analysed in relation to age, sex, seasonality and yearly variation during 1966-1987 in Matlab upazila of Chandpur district, Bangladesh. The overall death rate due to diarrhoeal diseases and other causes fluctuated during the period. Diarrhoeal death rate varied between 2.0 and 4.0 per 1,000 population except during the war and famine periods of 1971 and 1974-1975 respectively when it was two times higher over the preceding period of five years' average. On an average, more than 20% of all deaths appeared to be related to diarrhoea. The relative importance of diarrhoea as the cause of death did not diminish over time. Persistent diarrhoea caused more deaths than acute diarrhoea. At all times the highest diarrhoeal mortality rate was shown in children aged 1-4 years, specially in girls. Women aged under 20 years had a higher rate of diarrhoeal deaths than the men of similar age. November was the peak month of diarrhoeal deaths in this rural area. Introduction of the Maternity, Child Health-Family Planning (MCH-FP) services had significant impact of reducing diarrhoeal deaths as well as deaths from other causes.