The
Centers for Disease Control looks at state-level mortality data.
People love maps. That was basically the Centers for
Disease Control’s rationale for creating this
one, which used CDC data to find each state’s most distinctive cause
of death.
“Maps of the most
distinctive or characteristic value of some variable at the state or country
level became popular on social media,” the researchers wrote. One of those
viral maps looked at mortality stats by state, but only took into account the
top 10 causes of death.
Francis Boscoe and
Eva Pradhan went a lot deeper for the CDC, considering 113 causes of death
recognized by the National Center for Health Statistics during the decade
2001-2010.
Lung issues
disproportionately hit mining states like West Virginia and Kentucky, while
you’ll find “accidental discharge of firearms” in Alabama and Tennessee.
As the Washington
Post cautions, “The map does not show
the main cause of death by state, which is basically heart disease or cancer. What it shows is the
cause of death in each state that stands out most relative to its national
average.”
The authors don’t
expect the medical community to drop everything to focus on these causes.
“Although chronic
disease prevention efforts should continue to emphasize the most common
conditions,” the authors wrote,
“an outlier map such as this one should also be of interest to public health
professionals, particularly insofar as it highlights nonstandard cause-of-death
certification practices within and between states.”
The most distinctive causes of death by
state, 2001-2010
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
|
State
|
Letter
|
Distinctive cause
of death
|
|
AL
|
T
|
Accidental discharge of firearms
|
|
AK
|
S
|
Water, air and space, and other unspecified transport
accidents and their sequelae
|
|
AZ
|
V
|
Discharge of firearms, undetermined intent
|
|
AR
|
V
|
Discharge of firearms, undetermined intent
|
|
CA
|
P
|
Hyperlasia of prostate
|
|
CO
|
J
|
Atherosclerosis
|
|
CT
|
Q
|
Inflammatory diseases of female pelvic organs
|
|
DE
|
I
|
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, so described
|
|
DC
|
E
|
Human immunodeficiency virus
|
|
FL
|
E
|
Human immunodeficiency virus
|
|
GA
|
R
|
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings,
not elsewhere classified
|
|
HI
|
G
|
Other nutritional deficiencies
|
|
ID
|
S
|
Water, air and space, and other unspecified transport
accidents and their sequelae
|
|
IL
|
O
|
Other disorders of kidney
|
|
IN
|
W
|
Other and unspecified events of undetermined intent and
their sequelae
|
|
IA
|
L
|
Other and unspecified acute lower respiratory infections
|
|
KS
|
L
|
Other and unspecified acute lower respiratory infections
|
|
KY
|
M
|
Pneumoconisoses and chemical effects
|
|
LA
|
D
|
Syphilis
|
|
ME
|
K
|
Influenza
|
|
MD
|
W
|
Human immunodeficiency virus
|
|
MA
|
W
|
Other and unspecified events of undetermined intent and
their sequelae
|
|
MI
|
I
|
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, so described
|
|
MN
|
L
|
Other and unspecified acute lower respiratory infections
|
|
MS
|
F
|
Other and unspecified malignant neoplasms of lymphoid,
hematopoietic and related tissue
|
|
MO
|
B
|
Meningococcal infection
|
|
MT
|
N
|
Acute and rapidly progressive nephritic and nephrotic
syndrome
|
|
NE
|
L
|
Other and unspecified acute lower respiratory infections
|
|
NV
|
U
|
Legal intervention
|
|
NH
|
G
|
Other nutritional deficiencies
|
|
NJ
|
C
|
Septicemia
|
|
NM
|
U
|
Legal intervention
|
|
NY
|
Q
|
Inflammatory diseases of female pelvic organs
|
|
NC
|
G
|
Other nutritional deficiencies
|
|
ND
|
K
|
Influenza
|
|
OH
|
L
|
Other and unspecified acute lower respiratory infections
|
|
OK
|
H
|
Other acute ischemic heart diseases
|
|
OR
|
U
|
Legal intervention
|
|
PA
|
M
|
Pneumoconisoses and chemical effects
|
|
RI
|
W
|
Other and unspecified events of undetermined intent and
their sequelae
|
|
SC
|
H
|
Other acute ischemic heart diseases
|
|
SD
|
K
|
Influenza
|
|
TN
|
T
|
Accidental discharge of firearms
|
|
TX
|
A
|
Tuberculosis
|
|
UT
|
W
|
Other and unspecified events of undetermined intent and
their sequelae
|
|
VT
|
G
|
Other nutritional deficiencies
|
|
VA
|
H
|
Other acute ischemic heart diseases
|
|
WA
|
B
|
Meningococcal infection
|
|
WV
|
M
|
Pneumoconisoses and chemical effects
|
|
WI
|
L
|
Other and unspecified acute lower respiratory infections
|
|
WY
|
K
|
Influenza
|
Table: Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) Source: CDC Created with
Datawrapper
And for those of us
who just enjoy a good map, here’s another.
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