Politics and Medicine - Modifiable Risk Factor Related Causes of Death

Author

Modifiable Risk Factor Related Causes of Death

PeterB

2006-09-25, 4:28 pm

Modifiable Risk Factor Related Causes of Death

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten...act/291/10/1238

Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000 Ali H. Mokdad, PhD;
James S. Marks, MD, MPH; Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc; Julie L.
Gerberding, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2004;291:1238-1245.

Context Modifiable behavioral risk factors are leading causes of
mortality in the United States. Quantifying these will provide insight
into the effects of recent trends and the implications of missed
prevention opportunities.

Objectives To identify and quantify the leading causes of mortality in
the United States.

Design: Comprehensive MEDLINE search of English-language articles that
identified epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory studies linking
risk behaviors and mortality. The search was initially restricted to
articles published during or after 1990, but we later included relevant
articles published in 1980 to December 31, 2002. Prevalence and
relative risk were identified during the literature search. We used
2000 mortality data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to identify the causes and number of deaths. The estimates
of cause of death were computed by multiplying estimates of the
cause-attributable fraction of preventable deaths with the total
mortality data.

Main Outcome Measures -- Actual causes of death

Results: The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000
deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity
(400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%).
Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic
agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving
firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000), and illicit use of drugs
(17,000).

[comment: The Institute of Medicine states that estimates for
prescription drug-related deaths, estimated at 70,000, are a
substantial under-estimate due to the fact that such mortality is not
measured outside of hospital care. The actual figure, according to
some research, is well in excess of 100,000 deaths per year. These are
not classified as deaths due to medical error, but as a result of
properly prescribed and dispensed medication. This would place
prescription drugs as the third leading cause of death.]

Conclusions: These analyses show that smoking remains the leading
cause of mortality. However, poor diet and physical inactivity may soon
overtake tobacco as the leading cause of death. These findings, along
with escalating health care costs and an aging population, argue
persuasively for the need to establish a more preventive orientation in
US health care and public health systems.

PeterB

David Wright

2006-09-29, 2:35 am

In article <1159207480.646646.158780@d34g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>,
PeterB <pkm@mytrashmail.com> wrote:
>Modifiable Risk Factor Related Causes of Death
>
>http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten...act/291/10/1238
>
>Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000 Ali H. Mokdad, PhD;
>James S. Marks, MD, MPH; Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc; Julie L.
>Gerberding, MD, MPH
>
>JAMA. 2004;291:1238-1245.
>
>Context Modifiable behavioral risk factors are leading causes of
>mortality in the United States. Quantifying these will provide insight
>into the effects of recent trends and the implications of missed
>prevention opportunities.
>
>Objectives To identify and quantify the leading causes of mortality in
>the United States.
>
>Design: Comprehensive MEDLINE search of English-language articles that
>identified epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory studies linking
>risk behaviors and mortality. The search was initially restricted to
>articles published during or after 1990, but we later included relevant
>articles published in 1980 to December 31, 2002. Prevalence and
>relative risk were identified during the literature search. We used
>2000 mortality data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and
>Prevention to identify the causes and number of deaths. The estimates
>of cause of death were computed by multiplying estimates of the
>cause-attributable fraction of preventable deaths with the total
>mortality data.
>
>Main Outcome Measures -- Actual causes of death
>
>Results: The leading causes of death in 2000 were tobacco (435,000
>deaths; 18.1% of total US deaths), poor diet and physical inactivity
>(400,000 deaths; 16.6%), and alcohol consumption (85,000 deaths; 3.5%).
>Other actual causes of death were microbial agents (75,000), toxic
>agents (55,000), motor vehicle crashes (43,000), incidents involving
>firearms (29,000), sexual behaviors (20,000), and illicit use of drugs
>(17,000).
>
>[comment: The Institute of Medicine states that estimates for
>prescription drug-related deaths, estimated at 70,000, are a
>substantial under-estimate due to the fact that such mortality is not
>measured outside of hospital care. The actual figure, according to
>some research, is well in excess of 100,000 deaths per year. These are
>not classified as deaths due to medical error, but as a result of
>properly prescribed and dispensed medication. This would place
>prescription drugs as the third leading cause of death.]

How sad that those authors in JAMA were not able to report this, and
how lucky we are to have you here to fix it all up.

-- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net
These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct.
"George Bush is a gruesome boob." -- Bill Maher

PeterB

2006-09-29, 4:31 pm

David Wright wrote:
> In article <1159207480.646646.158780@d34g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>,
> PeterB <pkm@mytrashmail.com> wrote:
>
> How sad that those authors in JAMA were not able to report this, and
> how lucky we are to have you here to fix it all up.

Well, I know how you appreciate the facts, it's almost overwhelming at
times.

PeterB