Mortality rates highest in Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Mississippi and West Virginia, claims CDC report
A new report states that people residing in certain Southern states have a higher mortality rate than people in other parts of the country.
According to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mortality rates are highest in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Mississippi and West Virginia. In 2017, these regions witnessed an average death rate of 927 per 100,000 people. In contrary, the average mortality rate in states like Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, and Minnesota was only 624 per 100,000 in the same period.
The report, prepared by Jiaquan Xu, who works with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics, Mortality Statistics Branch, said: "Mortality in the United States varies widely by state." The report compares average age-adjusted death rates by factors like sex, race and ethnicity and also the five leading reasons of death between a group of five states with the highest age-adjusted death rates with five having the lowest such death rates.
Death rates among males and females
Besides throwing light on the big gap between states having the highest and lowest death rates, the report also came up with detailed figures in terms of gender. The states with the highest rates have witnessed males dying at 48 percent higher rate than those in the states with the lowest rates (1,093 as against 741).
Among females, the average death rate in the states with the highest rates is 49 percent more than those in states with the lowest rates (786 against 526).
States with high death rates have 'beaten' the national rate as well
Compared to the national age-adjusted death rate, the average death rate for states with the highest rate was 27 percent more than the national rate which is around 732. On the other hand, the states with the lowest rates have seen a 15 percent lower death rate than the national figure.
When analyzed age-wise, the CDC report suggested that the death rates in age groups 25-34 and 35-44 for states with the highest rates were more than double, compared to those that have the lowest rates. The difference between the rates was the lowest for the age-group 85 and above.
The alarming findings by the CDC were supported by the census data. If compared, it is seen that the states with the lowest death rates had better median household incomes, per capita incomes and less poverty in 2017. They also have better average education levels and more people with health insurance compared to the states that have high mortality rates.
Top five reasons for death
The CDC report also compared the causes of deaths in the states that have the highest and lowest mortality rates. In a graphic representation, the report mentioned the top five causes — heart diseases, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, unintentional injuries, and stroke.
All the five causes combined lead to 569 deaths per 100,000 people in the states with the highest mortality rates. In the states with the lowest mortality rates, the figure is 387 per 100,000. Individually seen, the five causes leave more people dead in the states with high-mortality rates than in those with low rates.
The CDC report added that the age-adjusted death rates were higher among non-Hispanic white and black people but lower for Hispanic people in states with higher death rates than in those with lower rates.
Meanwhile, US News data that rank healthiest communities in the country showed among 500 such communities, 78 reside in the states that have low mortality rates. The states that are doing poorly in the health chart are home to none of such communities.