21 February 2025
Marcus
[FYI request #29853 email]
Tēnā koe Marcus,
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00076845
Thank you for your email on 27 January 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the
following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“I have a couple of questions around mortalities that are coded using the International
Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.
1. Have there been any mortalities at any point within New Zealand coded against either
"RA00.0 Vaping related disorder" (ICD-11) or "U07.0 Vaping-related disorder" (ICD-10)?
2. For each of the past 3 years, could I get a table showing how many cases of
RA00.0/U07.0 have been diagnosed and how many of those ended up being fatal?
3. For each of the past 3 years, could I get a table showing how many fatal cases were
there of the following nutritional deficiencies/excesses (ICD-11 codes):
5B55 Vitamin A deficiency
5B5K.5 Sodium chlordine deficiency
5B56 Vitamin C deficiency
5B5K.6 Copper deficiency
5B57 Vitamine D deficiency
5B5K.7 Selenium deficiency
5B58 Vitamin E deficiency
5B5K.8 Chromium deficiency
5B59 Vitamin K deficiency
5B5K.9 Manganese deficiency
5B5A Vitamin B1 deficiency
5B5K.A Molybdenum deficiency
5B5B Vitamin B2 deficiency
5B5k.B Vanadium deficiency
5B5C Vitamin B3 deficiency
5B70 Essential fatty acid deficiency
5B5D Vitamin B6 deficiency
5B71 Protein deficiency
5B5E Folate deficiency
5B90.0 Hypervitaminosis A
5B5F Vitamin B12 deficiency
5B90.1 Hypercarotenaemia
5B5G Biotin deficiency
5B90.2 Hypervitaminosis D
5B5H Pantothenic acid deficiency
5B90.3 Megavitamin-B6 syndrome
5B5J Choline deficiency
5B91.0 Hypercalcaemia
5B5K.0 Iron deficiency
5B91.1 Zinc excess
5B5K.1 Calcium deficiency
5B91.2 Sodium chloride excess
5B5K.2 Zinc deficiency
5B91.3 Fluorine excess
5B5K.3 Iodine deficiency
5B91.4 Aluminium excess
5B5K.4 Fluorine deficiency
5B91.5 Manganese excess
4. For each of the past 5 years, could I get a table showing how many instances there have
been of the following anxiety-related disordered associated with cases, if it's standard to
associate ICD-11 codes with cases which I believe is referred to as "Postcoordination"
6B00 Generalised anxiety disorder
6B01 Panic disorder
6B04 Social anxiety disorder”
Response
In order to provide you with context to the data supplied in the below response,
please note:
Mortality data for 2020 is provisional, and hospitalisations data from 2022/23 onwards is
provisional. This data has not been through the full quality assurance process that we use before
publishing data and is subject to change. Published data may differ from the provisional data
presented here. Published data should be considered the most accurate source and used where
possible.
Health NZ uses ICD-10-AM for the coding of mortality and hospitalisations data.
The most recent year for which cause of death data is currently available is 2020 (refer response to
your questions 1 and 2 below, and
Table 2 in reference to your question 3). After the close of the
calendar year, there is a 12 to 18 month process to assign cause of death codes to the majority of
deaths in that year. The Health NZ clinical coding team reviews the death certificate and health
history of the deceased, to assign cause of death codes. Approximately 10% of deaths are referred
to the Coroner each year to determine cause. Deaths which require a coronial inquiry can take 3 or
more years for cause of death to be determined. The Chief Coroner has noted delays in the time it
is taking them to determine cause of death. We do not make mortality data available publicly until
the majority of deaths have been assigned a cause of death, so that the data we release is
complete and accurate.
Health NZ does not receive national level data about diagnoses made by primary care providers,
for example General Practitioners (GPs) (refer
Tables 1 and 3, in reference to your questions 2
and 4). As the conditions you have asked about may be diagnosed in a primary care setting, we do
not hold data on all cases of these conditions in New Zealand. Therefore, this aspect of your
request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as the information requested is not held by
Health NZ and we have no grounds to believe that the information is either held or connected more
closely with the functions of another organisation subject to the Act.
We can provide data on the conditions that required hospital treatment. This information is
provided below and should be considered in light of the context provided above.
1. Have there been any mortalities at any point within New Zealand coded against either
"RA00.0 Vaping related disorder" (ICD-11) or "U07.0 Vaping-related disorder" (ICD-10)?
Please note that ‘Vaping related disorder (U07.0)’ is not a valid underlying cause of death code so
deaths cannot be attributed to vaping. Up to and including calendar year 2020, there are no deaths
recorded where vaping related disorder was listed as a contributing cause.
2. For each of the past 3 years, could I get a table showing how many cases of
RA00.0/U07.0 have been diagnosed and how many of those ended up being fatal?
Table 1: Number of publicly funded hospital discharges where vaping related disorder was
recorded by financial year (1 July – 30 June)
Year
Number of hospital discharges
2021/22
15
2022/23
19
2023/24
31
Please note the following about Table 1:
• The data includes people who received treatment in hospital, where a vaping related
disorder was recorded. These hospitalisations were not necessarily caused by vaping,
though it was documented on their hospital record.
• The data is a count of hospital discharges - people hospitalised multiple times (transfers,
readmissions, multiple incidents) are counted each time.
• This data only includes people treated in hospital, it does not include people who received
treatment for a vaping related disorder in another clinical setting, for example via their GP.
3. For each of the past 3 years, could I get a table showing how many fatal cases were
there [for the listed nutritional deficiencies/excesses set out in your request]
:
Table 2: The number of deaths where the recorded cause of death was in the Other
nutritional deficiencies (ICD-10-AM codes E50-E64) subgroup by calendar year
Year
Number of deaths
Notes
2018
3 All deaths coded to E51.2 Wernicke’s
encephalopathy
2019
0
2020
1 Coded to E51.1 Beriberi
Please note the following about Table 2:
• Mortality data for 2020 is provisional.
• Deaths are coded to the condition which caused the death, and not what may have caused
that condition.
The specific codes included in the
Other nutritional deficiencies (ICD-10-AM codes E50-E64)
subgroup are outlined here:
https://www.icd10data.com/ICD10CM/Codes/E00-E89/E50-E64
In the period 2018-2020, there were no deaths in any year coded to the
Hyperalimentation (ICD-
10-AM code E67) code. This code includes the following specific diagnostic codes:
• E670 Hypervitaminosis A
• E671 Hypercarotenaemia
• E672 Megavitamin-B6 syndrome
• E673 Hypervitaminosis D
• E678 Other specified hyperalimentation
4. For each of the past 5 years, could I get a table showing how many instances there
have been [for the requested]
anxiety-related disordered associated with cases
Table 3: Number of hospitalisations by primary diagnosis and financial year (1 July - 30
June)
Number of hospitalisations by primary diagnosis
F410 Panic
F411 Generalised anxiety
F932 Social anxiety disorder
Year
disorder
disorder
of childhood
2019/20
308
138
4
2020/21
295
131
0
2021/22
289
171
2
2022/23
252
127
1
2023/24
287
133
1
Please note the following about Table 3:
• Hospitalisations data from 2022/23 onwards is provisional
• The data is a count of hospital discharges - people hospitalised multiple times (transfers,
readmissions, multiple incidents) are counted each time.
• This data only includes people treated in hospital, it does not include people who received
treatment for a vaping related disorder in another clinical setting, for example via their GP.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Health NZ may proactively
release a copy of this response on our website. All requester data, including your name and
contact details, will be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Stuart Bloomfield
Interim Director Data and Analytics
Planning, Funding and Outcomes
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
