Cause of Death Affects Racial Classification on Death Certificates

Noymer, Andrew; Penner, Andrew M.; Saperstein, Aliya

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015812

Cited by 59 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Third, racial/ethnic differentials in injury mortality rates are imperfect owing to usual self- or familial-reporting of race/ethnicity in the census-based population denominators and third-party reporting on death certificates, the numerator data source. 60,61 Fourth, our results could have been affected by unexamined heterogeneity in manner and cause-of-death reporting, as might emanate from variable training, resources, philosophies, procedures, and practices of medical examiners and coroners 42 and differential and respective exposure of physicians and funeral directors to official handbooks on the death certification 62 and on registration processes. 63 Finally, our rate breakdowns may be minimally affected by missing data on Hispanic origin for up to 0.6% of cases by year and by masking data on small cells.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Leading Causes of Unintentional and Intentional Injury Mortality: United States, 2000–2009

et al. 2012

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Objectives We have described national trends for the 5 leading external causes of injury mortality. Methods We used negative binomial regression and annual underlying cause-of-death data for US residents for 2000 through 2009. Results Mortality rates for unintentional poisoning, unintentional falls, and suicide increased by 128%, 71%, and 15%, respectively. The unintentional motor vehicle traffic crash mortality rate declined 25%. Suicide ranked first as a cause of injury mortality, followed by motor vehicle traffic crashes, poisoning, falls, and homicide. Females had a lower injury mortality rate than did males. The adjusted fall mortality rate displayed a positive age gradient. Blacks and Hispanics had lower adjusted motor vehicle traffic crash and suicide mortality rates and higher adjusted homicide rates than did Whites, and a lower unadjusted total injury mortality rate. Conclusions Mortality rates for suicide, poisoning, and falls rose substantially over the past decade. Suicide has surpassed motor vehicle traffic crashes as the leading cause of injury mortality. Comprehensive traffic safety measures have successfully reduced the national motor vehicle traffic crash mortality rate. Similar efforts will be required to diminish the burden of other injury.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Leading Causes of Unintentional and Intentional Injury Mortality: United States, 2000–2009

et al. 2012

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“…Differential misclassification for specific causes of death by racial and ethnic groups have been documented and might contribute to absolute mortality, but it would have to have become more pronounced over time to have driven the trends observed in our study. 41 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in premature mortality in the USA by sex, race, and ethnicity from 1999 to 2014: an analysis of death certificate data

et al. 2017

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Summary Background Reduction of premature mortality is a UN Sustainable Development Goal. Unlike other high-income countries, age-adjusted mortality in the USA plateaued in 2010 and increased slightly in 2015, possibly because of rising premature mortality. We aimed to analyse trends in mortality in the USA between 1999 and 2014 in people aged 25–64 years by age group, sex, and race and ethnicity, and to identify specific causes of death underlying the temporal trends. Methods For this analysis, we used cause-of-death and demographic data from death certificates from the US National Center for Health Statistics, and population estimates from the US Census Bureau. We estimated annual percentage changes in mortality using age-period-cohort models. Age-standardised excess deaths were estimated for 2000 to 2014 as observed deaths minus expected deaths (estimated from 1999 mortality rates). Findings Between 1999 and 2014, premature mortality increased in white individuals and in American Indians and Alaska Natives. Increases were highest in women and those aged 25–30 years. Among 30-year-olds, annual mortality increases were 2·3% (95% CI 2·1–2·4) for white women, 0·6% (0·5–0·7) for white men, and 4·3% (3·5–5·0) and 1·9% (1·3–2·5), respectively, for American Indian and Alaska Native women and men. These increases were mainly attributable to accidental deaths (primarily drug poisonings), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, and suicide. Among individuals aged 25–49 years, an estimated 111 000 excess premature deaths occurred in white individuals and 6600 in American Indians and Alaska Natives during 2000–14. By contrast, premature mortality decreased substantially across all age groups in Hispanic individuals (up to 3·2% per year), black individuals (up to 3·9% per year), and Asians and Pacific Islanders (up to 2·6% per year), mainly because of declines in HIV, cancer, and heart disease deaths, resulting in an estimated 112 000 fewer deaths in Hispanic individuals, 311 000 fewer deaths in black individuals, and 34 000 fewer deaths in Asians and Pacific Islanders aged 25–64 years. During 2011–14, American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest premature mortality, followed by black individuals. Interpretation Important public health successes, including HIV treatment and smoking cessation, have contributed to declining premature mortality in Hispanic individuals, black individuals, and Asians and Pacific Islanders. However, this progress has largely been negated in young and middle-aged (25–49 years) white individuals, and American Indians and Alaska Natives, primarily because of potentially avoidable causes such as drug poisonings, suicide, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. The magnitude of annual mortality increases in the USA is extremely unusual in high-income countries, and a rapid public health response is needed to avert further premature deaths. Funding US National Cancer Institute Intramural Research Program.

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“…The underlying cause may be hard to determine, particularly among the elderly, for whom multiple diseases at the time of death are more likely (Israel et al 1986). Where cause of death is miscoded, the error has been shown to be correlated with race (Noymer et al 2011). In addition, mortality estimates could be biased, especially for minority populations, by census undercounts, age misreporting, and race misclassification.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Lifespans Are More Variable Among Blacks Than Among Whites in the United States

et al. 2014

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Lifespans are both shorter and more variable for blacks than for whites in the United States. Because their lifespans are more variable, there is greater inequality in length of life—and thus greater uncertainty about the future—among blacks. This study is the first to decompose the black-white difference in lifespan variability in America. Are lifespans more variable for blacks because they are more likely to die of causes that disproportionately strike the young and middle-aged, or because age at death varies more for blacks than for whites among those who succumb to the same cause? We find that it is primarily the latter. For almost all causes of death, age at death is more variable for blacks than it is for whites, especially among women. Although some youthful causes of death, such as homicide and HIV/AIDS, contribute to the black-white disparity in variance, those contributions are largely offset by the higher rates of suicide and drug poisoning deaths for whites. As a result, differences in the causes of death for blacks and whites account, on net, for only about one-eighth of the difference in lifespan variance.

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Cause of Death Affects Racial Classification on Death Certificates

Cited by 59 publications

References 4 publications

Leading Causes of Unintentional and Intentional Injury Mortality: United States, 2000–2009

Leading Causes of Unintentional and Intentional Injury Mortality: United States, 2000–2009

Trends in premature mortality in the USA by sex, race, and ethnicity from 1999 to 2014: an analysis of death certificate data

Why Lifespans Are More Variable Among Blacks Than Among Whites in the United States

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