FOI Ref: FOI/2023/5056
You asked
Please can we request the number of deaths related to choking in UK in 2022 broken down by age.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the provision of mortality statistics for England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. Therefore, we do not hold the requested data for the whole of the UK. Should you wish to obtain this data from NRS and NISRA, they can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).
The ICD10 code for choking is defined by WHO is: W79.
We have released several bespoke requests, which provide statistics on deaths where choking was a contributing factor up to 2018. A contributing factor means that we would look at all the conditions mentioned on the death certificate as well as the underlying cause of death.
Further information on this topic up to 2022 is available to order as a bespoke output via our bespoke services route. Please note, mortality data for 2022 is still provisional until the summer of 2023. Disaggregation by age would also need to be grouped to minimise disclosure risk.
Our bespoke services are subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, subject to our Charging Policy, and can be made to: Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.