[Trends in average life expectancy in the Saxony Free State--results of a cause of death-specific table analysis].

We conducted a specific table analysis on mortality causes that was mainly oriented on the lines of the chapters of ICD-9 to explore the average life expectancy for the population in Saxony particularly since 1988. The drop in average life expectancy of males observed since 1990 can be fully explained only for those around 18 years of age by "accidents" as the cause of death. Between 30 and 55 years of age there were additional losses of average life expectancy via the mortality causes "diseases of the digestive tract", "neoplasms" and "psychiatric diseases". The significance of neoplasms and of psychiatric diseases is receeding in respect of the average life expectancy. In 1991 there was an increase in the incidence of suicide in the age bracket around 51 years in males. Seen on an overall scale across all age brackets the development of the suicide rate has increased average life expectancy. Significant average life expectancy increase developed in the range of death causes due to embryonic or congenital damage as well as cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the respiratory system and infectious diseases. As far as the female population is concerned, only accidents and diseases of the digestive tract had a negative effect on average life expectancy in 1990 and 1991 whereas the negative effect exercised by the mortality cause "neoplasms" is systematically flattening out. There are excessive gains in life expectancy in respect of cardiovascular diseases, clearly in the range of embryonal and congenital diseases and remarkably in respect of suicide. How many of these specific differentiations of causes of death are due to changes in coding, has not yet been assessed. Leaving aside the unnatural causes of death these figures point to a marked influence of improved medical care on average life expectancy.