[AIDS--the leading cause of death among young adult men in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg].

The objective was to describe the extent to which HIV infection has become a major cause of death among young adults in Denmark. The design used was retrospective review of underlying causes of death recorded in the National Danish Register of Causes of Death on the basis of submitted death certificates. Analysis of mortality statistics revealed, that from 1980 to 1993 AIDS became the 5th leading cause of death among men 25 to 49 years of age in Denmark after cancer, accidents, suicide and heart disease. AIDS among women had little impact on the vital statistics in the period. In the municipalities of the City of Copenhagen AIDS was the major cause of death among men already from 1990 and in 1993 death from AIDS comprised 25% of all causes (n = 107, death rate = 88/100,000). The rising rates of deaths attributed to AIDS among younger men show no sign of decreasing neither in the capital nor in the country as a whole.