Deaths due to hypovolemia

FOI reference: FOI-2023-1684

You asked

I would be grateful if you could supply information based on death registration concerning the number of deaths due to hypovolemia in trauma patients between 2015 and the present.

It would also be appreciated if you could show how many of these deaths where regarded as preventable, however I understand if this is not something you can quantify in data.

We said

Thank you for your request. 

We hold mortality data for England and Wales, which are based on the information collected at death registration.  

All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as: 

a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or 

b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury 

Deaths where hypovolaemia was recorded as the underlying cause of death are coded to ICD-10 codes E86 'Volume depletion'.  

The death certificate does not provide sufficient information for us to determine whether the person was a trauma patient, or whether the death was considered preventable. For information, I have looked at the ONS definition of preventable mortality (available in our avoidable mortality publication) and it does not include this cause of death. 

Numbers of deaths by underlying cause (ICD-10 code), sex, five-year age group and area of usual residence, for England and Wales, 2013 to 2022, are available via the NOMIS webservice.  

Please follow these instructions to use the NOMIS webservice: 

• Select the geography - (England and Wales, regional or by local authority) 

• Select Age - All ages or 5-year age bands 

• Select Gender - Total or Male/Female 

• Select rates - All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example. 

• Select cause of death (ICD10 code search is available) 

• Select format (Excel or CSV for example) 

Please see the associated download containing a spreadsheet for numbers of deaths where hypovolaemia was recorded as the underlying cause of death, for deaths registered in England and Wales, 2015 to 2022. 

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.