Background: There is a worldwide tendency towards a reduction in the rates of deaths due to cirrhosis. In Chile, a decrease in the number of hospital admissions due to this disease has been recorded.
Aim: To assess general characteristics and temporal evolution of liver cirrhosis mortality in Chile between 1990 and 2007.
Material and methods: National death records and population databases were reviewed. Crude and age-adjusted mortality rates for alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis were calculated, evaluating their evolution in the study period and the relative risk by gender.
Results: In the study period, 44,894 deaths caused by cirrhosis were recorded. Mortality rate was 16.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. 54% of deaths were attributed to non-alcoholic cirrhosis. There was a reduction in mortality rates for both types of cirrhosis. Males accounted for 83 and 65% of deaths caused by alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis, respectively. The figures for relative risk of death were 5 and 1.9, respectively.
Conclusions: Alcoholic cirrhosis was the preponderant cause among liver cirrhosis deaths. A decrease in mortality rates was observed in the study period. Improvements in disease treatment and control could possibly explain this trend.