Multiple Cause of Death 1999 -2004
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Summary
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The Multiple Cause of Death data available on WONDER are county-level
national mortality and population data spanning the years 1999-2004.
Data are based on death certifcates for U.S. residents.
Each death certificate contains a single underlying cause of death,
up to twenty additional multiple causes, and demographic data.
The number of deaths, crude death rates or age-adjusted death rates can be
obtained by place of residence (total U.S., state, and county), age group, race
(white, black, and other), gender, year of death, and cause-of-death
(4-digit ICD code or group of codes).
Privacy policy: The data are suppressed at the cell level, affecting the value displayed
in a table of the requested data. Briefly, if a county's total census year population is less than 100,000,
then death counts of five or less (count <= 5) and the associated death rates
may not be shown unless three or more years of data are combined.
On WONDER, if a query for a small county results in death
counts of five or less (count <=5) and three or more years of data are not combined,
then the death counts are shown as "Suppressed".
Data years 1999 and later reference the year 2000 population figures for suppression.
See Assurance of Confidentiality for more information.
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Mortality data:
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The mortality data are based on records
for all deaths occurring in the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
Deaths to foreign residents are excluded.
Deaths to residents who died abroad are not included on this file.
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The underlying cause-of-death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as
"the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death,
or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury."
Underlying cause-of-death is selected from the conditions entered by the physician
on the cause of death section of the death certificate.
When more than one cause or condition is entered by the physician,
the underlying cause is determined by the sequence of conditions on the certificate,
provisions of the ICD, and associated selection rules and modifications.
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Causes of death are classified in accordance with
the International Classification of Disease.
Deaths for 1999 and beyond are classified using the Tenth Revision (ICD-10).
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Beginning with data for 2001, NCHS introduced categories
*U01-*U03 for classifying and coding deaths due to acts of terrorism.
The asterisks before the category codes indicate that they are not part of the
International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).
Description of the specific 4-digit codes can be found at
NCHS Classifications of Diseases, and Functioning & Disability: Appendix I.
Deaths classified to the terrorism categories are included in the categories
for Assault (homicide) and Intentional self-harm (suicide) in the 113 cause-of-death list.
Additional information on these new categories can be found at
NCHS Classifications of Diseases, and Functioning & Disability:
Classification of Death and Injury Resulting from Terrorism.
Deaths in World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks---New York City, 2001.
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Population data:
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The population estimates
are U.S. Census Bureau estimates of U.S. national, state, and
county resident populations.
The year 1999 population estimates are bridged-race intercensal estimates of the July 1 resident population,
based on the 1990 and the year 2000 census counts.
The year 2000 population estimates are April 1 modified census counts.
The 2000 population counts have bridged-race categories.
The 2001 - 2004 population estimates are bridged-race postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population.
For more information, see
Population Data Sources.
NCHS live-birth data are included for "Infant Age Groups" so that infant mortality rates can be calculated.
The number of live births and the population estimate for the "under one year of age" group differ slightly,
thus death rates may differ slightly when compared.
For more information, see Mortality for Infants.
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Source:
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The Multiple Cause of Death data are produced by the
Systems Programming and Statistical Resources Branch,
Division of Vital Statistics,
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS),
Coordinating Center for Health Information Services (CCHIS),
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
United States Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS).
See Data Source Information.
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| In WONDER: |
You can produce tables, maps, charts, and data extracts.
Obtain death counts, crude rates and age-adjusted rates, and
select specific disease and demographic criteria to produce cross-tabulated mortality measures.
Data are organized into three levels of geographic detail: national, state (including multi-state regions and divisions) and county.
The population estimates used as the denominator for rate calculations are also shown.
You can limit and index your data by any and all of these variables:
- Location - Region, Division, State, County
- Year - 1999-2004
- Age Group - optionally include infant age groups
- Race - All, Black or African American, Other Races Combined, White
- Gender (Sex) - Female, Male
- Cause of Death - underlying and multiple causes of death
- Urbanization - classifies population density and other factors (not available in earlier releases)
The following statistical measures are available as query results:
- Death Counts
- Crude Rates
- Age-Adjusted Rates
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| Contents: |
Multiple Cause of Death Data Request
Data Source Information
Additional Information
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| Output |
You can produce tables, maps, charts, and data extracts.
Obtain death counts, crude rates and age-adjusted rates, select specific disease and demographic criteria to produce cross-tabulated mortality measures.
Data are organized into three levels of geographic detail: national, state (including multi-state regions) and county.
The population estimates used as the denominator for rate calculations are also shown.
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| Variables |
You can limit and index your data by any and all of these variables:
- Location - Region, Division, State, County
- Year - 1999-2004
- Age Group - optionally include infant age groups
- Gender (Sex) - Female, Male
- Race - All, Black or African American, Other Races Combined, White
- Cause of Death - underlying cause of death and multiple causes of death
- Urbanization - classifies population density and other factors (not available in earlier releases)
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| How? |
The Request screen has sections to guide you through the
making a data request as step-by-step process.
However, to get your first taste of how the system works,
you might want to simply press any Send button,
and execute the default data request.
The data results for your query appear on the Table screen.
After you get your data results, try the Chart and Map screens.
Or export your data to a file (tab-delimited line listing) for download to your computer.
For more information, see the following:
Quick Start Guide
Step 1, Organize and label results
Step 2, Select location
Step 3, Select years and demographics
Step 4, Select underlying cause of death
Step 5, Select multiple cause of death
Step 6, Select rate options
Step 7, Other options
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| 'By-Variables' |
Select variables that serve as keys (indexes) for organizing your data.
See How do I organize my data? for more information.
Note: To map your data, you must select at least one geographical location as a "By-Variable"
for grouping your data, such as State or County.
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| Help |
Click on any button labled "Help", located
to the right hand side of the screen at the top of each section.
Each control's label, such as the "Location" label next to the
Location entry box, is linked to the on-line help for that item.
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| Send |
Sends your data request to be processed on the CDC WONDER databases.
The Send buttons are located on the bottom of the Request page, and
also in the upper right corner of each section, for easy access.
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Step 1. Organize table layout:
| Group Results By |
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Select up to five variables that serve as keys for grouping your data.
See Group Results By below for hints.
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| Show Percent of Total |
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If checked percent of total will appear in the results table.
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| Title |
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Enter any desired description to display as a title with your results.
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The following statistical measures are available as query results:
- Death Counts
- Crude Rates
- Age-Adjusted Rates (optional)
- Percent of total (optional) - shows the percentage this row represents in the table of query results
Group Results By...
Select up to five variables that serve as keys for grouping your data. For example, you could select
to group (summarize, stratify, index) your data by State and by County.
How?
See How do I organize my data? for more information.
Hints:
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About age-adjusted rates:
When age-adjusted rates are calculated, you cannot group the data by Age Group.
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About Multiple Cause of Death:
When the data are grouped by Multiple Cause of Death, the table shows
a row for each cause of death, including the number of deaths and death.
Athough each death certificate has only 1 Underlying Cause of death,
up to 20 causes can be indicated in the Multiple Cause of Death field.
Thus, the total count by cause may exceed the actual number of dead persons in the selected population.
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About charts:
You cannot make charts when your data has more than two By-Variables.
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About maps:
To make a map, you must request data with a geographic location variable,
such as State or County, as a "By-Variable."
Then click the Map tab.
Counts
The death counts in the data represent deaths that occurred in the 50 United States and the district of Columbia,
for the legal place of residence of the decedent.
See Mortality data for more information.
Note:
Counts are suppressed for county-level data for deaths
when the death count is less than 6, and the census year county population is less than 100, 000 persons,
and the data shown represents fewer than 3 years combined.
Data years 1999 and later reference the year 2000 population figures for suppression.
Crude Rates
Crude Rates are expressed as the number of deaths reported each calendar year per the factor you select.
The default factor is per 100,000 population, reporting the death rate per 100,000 persons.
Crude Rate = Count / Population * 100,000
See Frequently Asked Questions about Death Rates .
Hints:
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Rates calculated with population estimates are per 100,000 persons by default.
However, infant mortality rates
are calculated per 1,000 live births by default.
See Step 6 to select the factor for rate calculations.
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Select the precision for rate calculations in the Other Options section.
When the rate calculated for a small numerator (incidence count) is zero,
you may increase the precision to reveal the rate
by showing more numbers to the right of the decimal point.
Notes:
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Rates for small populations should be interpreted with caution.
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Rates are suppressed for county-level data for deaths
when the death count is less than 6,
and the census year county population is less than 100, 000 persons,
and the data shown represents fewer than 3 years combined.
Data years 1999 and later reference the year 2000 population figures for suppression.
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Rates are marked as "unreliable" when the death count is less than 20.
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Crude rates are helpful in determining the need for services for a given population, relative to another population, regardless of size.
Crude rates are influenced by the underlying age distribution of the state's population.
Even if two states have the same age-adjusted rates, the state with the relatively older population
(as demonstrated by having a higher median age) will have higher crude rates because
incidence or death rates for most cancers increase with increasing age.
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The population estimates for the denominators of incidence rates
are race-specific (all races, white, black, and other races combined)
and sex-specific population estimates.
The population estimates are aggregated from the most detailed level selected.
For example, if you have requested data for the nation grouped by state and by county,
then the populations are the county-level population estimates aggregated to the state and national summaries.
See Population Denominator Data Sources
below for more information.
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The population for "Infant age groups" is the number of live births in the given time period.
See Infant Mortality for more information.
Age-Adjusted Rates
Age-adjusted death rates are weighted averages of the age-specific death rates,
where the weights represent a fixed population by age.
They are used to compare relative mortality risk among groups and over time.
An age-adjusted rate represents the rate that would have existed had the age-specific rates
of the particular year prevailed in a population whose age distribution was the same as that of the fixed population.
Age-adjusted rates should be viewed as relative indexes rather than as direct or actual measures of mortality risk.
The year "2000 U.S. standard" is the default population selection for the calculation of age-adjusted rates.
However, you can select other standard populations, or select specific population criteria to determine the age distribution ratios.
See Frequently Asked Questions about Death Rates for more information.
The rates of almost all causes of death vary by age. Age adjustment is a
technique for "removing" the effects of age from crude rates, so as
to allow meaningful comparisons across populations with different underlying
age structures. For example, comparing the crude rate of heart disease in
Florida to that of California is misleading, because the relatively older
population in Florida will lead to a higher crude death rate, even if the
age-specific rates of heart disease in Florida and California are the same.
For such a comparison, age-adjusted rates are preferable.
Age-adjusted rates should be viewed as relative indexes
rather than as direct or actual measures of mortality risk.
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) age-adjusts death rates using the direct method.
That is, by applying age-specific death rates (Ri) to the U.S. standard population age distribution.
R' = S i ( Psi / Ps ) R i
where Psi is the standard population for age group i and Ps is the total U.S. standard population (all ages combined).
In the direct method, a standard age distribution is chosen and
the age-specific death rates are weighted according to the standard.
A reasonable choice for the standard is the U.S. total population (all races, both genders)
for the year under study.
To permit comparison of death rates from year to year, a standard population
is used. Beginning with the 1999 data year, NCHS adopted the year 2000
projected population of the United States as the standard population.
This new standard replaces the 1940 standard population that was used by NCHS
for over 50 years. The new population standard affects the level of mortality and to some
extent trends and group comparisons. Of particular note are the effects on
race comparison of mortality. For detailed discussion, see:
Anderson RN, Rosenberg HM.
Age standardization of death rates: Implementation of the year 2000 standard.
National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 47 no 3.
Hyattsville, Maryland. National Center for Health Statistics. 1998.
Beginning with publications of the year 2003 data, the traditional standard million population along with corresponding standard weights
to six decimal places were replaced by the projected year 2000 population age distribution (see 2000 Standard Population below).
The effect of the change is negligible and does not significantly affect comparability with
age-adjusted rates calculated using the previous method.
Age-Adjusted Rates Hints:
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Age-Adjusted Rates are optional, see Rate Options to select age-adjusted rates.
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Rates are calculated per 100,000 population by default. See Step 6 to select the factor for rate calculations.
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Select the precision for rate calculations in the Other Options section.
When the rate calculated for a small numerator (incidence count) is zero,
you may increase the precision to reveal the rate
by showing more numbers to the right of the decimal point.
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Age-adjusted rates cannot be calculated when the data are grouped by Age Group.
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Age-adjusted rates are not calculated when only one age group is selected (the effect is a ratio of one).
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Age-adjusted rates are not available for "Infant age groups" because the populations
for these age groups are the number of live births in the given time period, the same
population denominator for each infant age group.
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The selection must include both age groups "5 - 9 years" and "10 - 14 years" in order
to calculate age-adjusted rates for this population. The combined age groups are required because
the reference standard population has the age group "5 - 14 years."
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The selection must include both age groups "15 - 20 years" and "20 - 24 years" in order
to calculate age-adjusted rates for this population. The combined age groups are required because
the reference standard population has the age group "15 - 24 years."
Notes:
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Rates are suppressed for county-level data,
when the death count is less than 6, and the census year county population is less than 100, 000 persons,
and the data shown represents fewer than 3 years combined.
Data years 1999 and later reference the year 2000 population figures for suppression.
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Rates are marked as "unreliable" when the death count is less than 20.
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If a "non-standard" population is selected for age-adjusted rates,
then the actual population estimates for the specified year are used to
determine the specific age-distribution ratios (or weights) used in the calculation.
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The following standard populations (see tables below) are used for computing age-adjusted rates:
| Year 2000 Standard Population for the United States |
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| | Age | Number |
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| | All ages | 274,633,642 |
| | Under 1 year | 3,794,901 |
| | 1-4 years | 15,191,619 |
| | 5-14 years | 39,976,619 |
| | 15-24 years | 38,076,743 |
| | 25-34 years | 37,233,437 |
| | 35-44 years | 44,659,185 |
| | 45-54 years | 37,030,152 |
| | 55-64 years | 23,961,506 |
| | 65-74 years | 18,135,514 |
| | 75-84 years | 12,314,793 |
| | 85 years and over | 4,259,173 |
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Based on year 2000 projected population.
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| Year 2000 Standard Million Population for the United States |
| Numbers and All Ages Proportions (Weights) * |
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| | Age | Number | Weight |
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| | All ages | 1,000,000 | 1.000000 |
| | Under 1 year | 13,818 | 0.013818 |
| | 1-4 years | 55,317 | 0.055317 |
| | 5-14 years | 145,565 | 0.145565 |
| | 15-24 years | 138,646 | 0.138646 |
| | 25-34 years | 135,573 | 0.135573 |
| | 35-44 years | 162,613 | 0.162613 |
| | 45-54 years | 134,834 | 0.134834 |
| | 55-64 years | 87,247 | 0.087247 |
| | 65-74 years | 66,037 | 0.066037 |
| | 75-84 years | 44,842 | 0.044842 |
| | 85 years and over | 15,508 | 0.015508 |
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Based on year 2000 projected population.
Note that these weights only apply to the all ages population,
the weights are calculated dynamically when age groups are selected.
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| Year 1970 Standard Million Population for the United States |
| Numbers and All Ages Proportions (Weights) * |
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| | Age | Number | Weight |
|---|
| | All ages | 1,000,000 | 1.000000 |
| | Under 1 year | 18,102 | 0.018102 |
| | 1-4 years | 66,314 | 0.066314 |
| | 5-14 years | 200,508 | 0.200508 |
| | 15-24 years | 174,406 | 0.174406 |
| | 25-34 years | 122,569 | 0.122569 |
| | 35-44 years | 113,614 | 0.113614 |
| | 45-54 years | 114,265 | 0.114265 |
| | 55-64 years | 91,480 | 0.091480 |
| | 65-74 years | 61,195 | 0.061195 |
| | 75-84 years | 30,112 | 0.030112 |
| | 85 years and over | 7,435 | 0.007435 |
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Based on the year 1970 population.
Note that these weights only apply to the all ages population,
the weights are calculated dynamically when age groups are selected.
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| Year 1940 Standard Million Population for the United States |
| Numbers and All Ages Proportions (Weights) * |
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| | Age | Number | Weight |
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| | All ages | 1,000,000 | 1.000000 |
| | Under 1 year | 15,343 | 0.015343 |
| | 1-4 years | 64,718 | 0.064718 |
| | 5-14 years | 170,355 | 0.170355 |
| | 15-24 years | 181,677 | 0.181677 |
| | 25-34 years | 162,066 | 0.162166 |
| | 35-44 years | 139,237 | 0.139237 |
| | 45-54 years | 117,811 | 0.117811 |
| | 55-64 years | 80,294 | 0.080294 |
| | 65-74 years | 48,426 | 0.048426 |
| | 75-84 years | 17,303 | 0.017303 |
| | 85 years and over | 2,770 | 0.002770 |
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Based on the year 1940 population.
Note that these weights only apply to the all ages population,
the weights are calculated dynamically when age groups are selected.
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Step 2. Select location:
Select the place and time period of interest:
- Location: the 50 United States by Region, Division, State, County
Data are available for the United States by Region, Division, State, County.
Select the location(s) for the query.
Any number of locations can be specified here.
How?
Hints:
- The default is all values (the United States).
- The Advanced mode let you easily pick several items from different parts of the list.
Items are not selected until you click the "Move" button in Advanced mode.
You may also enter values by hand, one code per line, in the Advanced mode.
Use the Finder to see the correct code format.
For example, 02 is the Alaska state code.
- The "plus" symbol, "+" indicates that you can open the item, to see more items below it.
- The results to a search are shown in blue, and indicated by ">".
Regions are multi-state groups.
For regional data, you can group by Region, or you can select any combination of individual regions.
How?
Notes:
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Region is based on the person's legal state of residence at the time of death.
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The Regions are identified by both name and codes in data extracts.
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The United States is split into 4 regions:
Northeast,
Midwest,
South and
West.
The states that comprise each region are shown below.
State abbreviation and name FIPS code
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| Northeast Region: |
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CT Connecticut 09
ME Maine 23
MA Massachusetts 25
NH New Hampshire 33
NJ New Jersey 34
NY New York 36
PA Pennsylvania 42
RI Rhode Island 44
VT Vermont 50
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| Midwest Region: |
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IL Illinois 17
IN Indiana 18
IA Iowa 19
KS Kansas 20
MI Michigan 26
MN Minnesota 27
MO Missouri 29
NE Nebraska 31
ND North Dakota 38
OH Ohio 39
SD South Dakota 46
WI Wisconsin 55
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| South Region: |
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AL Alabama 01
AR Arkansas 05
DE Delaware 10
DC District of Columbia 11
FL Florida 12
GA Georgia 13
KY Kentucky 21
LA Louisiana 22
MD Maryland 24
MS Mississippi 28
NC North Carolina 37
OK Oklahoma 40
SC South Carolina 45
TN Tennessee 47
TX Texas 48
VA Virginia 51
WV West Virginia 54
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| West Region: |
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AK Alaska 02
AZ Arizona 04
CA California 06
CO Colorado 08
HI Hawaii 15
ID Idaho 16
MT Montana 30
NV Nevada 32
NM New Mexico 35
OR Oregon 41
UT Utah 49
WA Washington 53
WY Wyoming 56
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Divisions are multi-state groups, sub-sets of Regions.
For division-level data, you can group by Division,
or select any combination of individual divisions.
How?
Notes:
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Division is based on the person's legal state of residence at the time of death.
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The divisions are identified by both name and codes in data extracts.
To see all of the states in each division, group the data by Division and by State.
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The United States is split into 9 divisions by the Census Bureau:
- Division 1: New England, (CENS-D1)
- Division 2: Middle Atlantic, (CENS-D2)
- Division 3: East North Central, (CENS-D3)
- Division 4: West North Central, (CENS-D4)
- Division 5: South Atlantic, (CENS-D5)
- Division 6: East South Central, (CENS-D6)
- Division 7: West South Central, (CENS-D7)
- Division 8: Mountain, (CENS-D8)
- Division 9: Pacific, (CENS-D9)
The states that comprise each division are shown below.
For state level data, you can select any combination of individual states.
Or group by State and leave the Location Finder selection at the default (all locations or the 50 United States and the District of Columbia).
How?
Notes:
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The state coded represents the person's place of legal residence at the time of death.
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The states and the District of Columbia are identified by both state name and Standard Federal Information Processing (FIPS)
codes in data extracts.
See About FIPS Codes below.
County-level data are available for the United States and the District of Columbia.
For county level data, you can select any combination of individual counties,
or group by County. Leave the Location Finder selection at the default (all locations or the 50 United States and the District of Columbia).
How?
Notes:
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The county coded represents the person's place of legal residence at the time of death.
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The counties and the District of Columbia are identified by both county name and Standard Federal Information Processing (FIPS)
codes in data extracts.
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About FIPS Codes:
The FIPS State and county codes were established by the National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce in 1968.
This standard set of codes provides names and codes for counties and county equivalents of the 50 States of the United States and the District of Columbia.
Counties are considered to be the "first order subdivisions" of each State, regardless of their local designation (county, parish, borough, census area).
Washington, D.C.; the consolidated government of Columbus City, Georgia; the independent cities of the States of Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia;
and the census areas and boroughs of Alaska are identified as county equivalents. The system is standard throughout the Federal Government.
The State codes are ascending, two-digit numbers; the county codes are ascending three-digit numbers.
For both the State and county codes, space has been left for new States or counties.
Some changes in the FIPS codes have occurred since 1968.
See Location Updates for information on how these changes affect the data.
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About County Changes:
Comparable total deaths and death rates may be misleading for counties with changing boundaries.
See Location Updates for information on how these changes affect the data.
Due to boundary changes, data are available for some counties for a limited period of time.
The following county-level constraints apply to the 1999-2004 Multiple Cause of Death data:
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Alaska:
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Denali, Alaska (FIPS code 02068) only has data for year 2003 and later.
Counts and rates shown in multi-year requests show only two years of data for this entity.
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Yukon-Koyukuk, Alaska (FIPS code 02290) - change in deaths and population counts between 2002 - 2003.
Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for a former part of Yukon-Koyukuk are reported for Denali Borough
and are no longer included with data for Yukon-Koyukuk.
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Colorado:
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Adams, Colorado (FIPS code 08001) - change in deaths and population counts between 2002 - 2003.
Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for a former part of Adams county are reported for Broomfield county,
and are no longer included with data for Adams county.
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Boulder, Colorado (FIPS code 08003) - change in deaths and population counts between 2002 - 2003.
Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for a former part of Boulder county are reported for Broomfield county,
and are no longer included with data for Boulder county.
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Broomfield, Colorado (FIPS code 08014) only has data for year 2003 and later.
Counts and rates shown in multi-year requests show only two years of data for this entity.
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Jefferson, Colorado (FIPS code 08059) - change in deaths and population counts between 2002 - 2003.
Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for a former part of Jefferson county are reported for Broomfield county,
and are no longer included with data for Jefferson county.
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Weld, Colorado (FIPS code 080123) - change in deaths and population counts between 2002 - 2003.
Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for a former part of Weld county are reported for Broomfield county,
and are no longer included with data for Weld county.
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Virginia:
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Alleghany, Virginia (FIPS code 51005) - change in deaths and population counts between 2000 - 2001.
Beginning in 2001, deaths and population counts for death counts and population estimates for Clifton Forge city, Virginia
have been combined with Alleghany county.
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Clifton Forge city, Virginia (FIPS code 51560) has data for years 1999 - 2000 only.
Counts and rates shown in multi-year requests show only two years of data for this entity.
Step 3. Select years and demographics:
Limit your data for any of the following data elements:
- Age Group
- Year - 1999-2005
- Gender - All, Female, Male
- Race - All, Black / African American, Other Races Combined, White
- Urbanization - classifies population density and other factors
Select All Ages or any combination of the individual age groups.
Click the radio button to show the list that includes separate age groups for infants under one year of age.
How?
Notes:
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Note that the population for the infant age groups is the number of live births in the given time period.
Thus each infant age group shows the total number of live births in that period of years.
For more information about infant age groups, see
Mortality for Infants .
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The population for the other age groups is the population estimate for each age group in the given time period.
The population estimates for each year are summed together. For example, if data is requested for
the age group "15 - 19 years" in the years 2000-2001, then the population estimate
for this age group in the year 2000 is added to the population estimate for this age group in the year 2001.
The combined population estimates for the time period are the denominator for the death rates.
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Refer to Age-Adjusted Rates
for a discussion on the use of age-groups in calculating age-adjusted rates.
Note that some of the age groups available in the data
are not available in the standard population tables used to calculate age-adjusted rates.
Also, age-adjusted rates are not available for infant age groups.
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The age groups are identified by two columns, labels and codes,
in data extracts.
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The following age groups are available:
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Infant age groups (live births):
under 1 day
1 - 6 days
7 - 27 days
28 - 364 days
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Age groups (population estimates):
under 1 year
1 - 4 years
5 - 9 years
10 - 14 years
15 - 19 years
20 - 24 years
25 - 34 years
35 - 44 years
45 - 54 years
55 - 64 years
65 - 74 years
75 - 84 years
85 years and over
|
Pick any combination of years desired.
Data are available for the years 1999 - 2004.
The archive databases only contain through the final year available at the time of the release.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?.
Select All Genders or any combination of values: female, male.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?.
Note:
The genders are identified by two columns, labels and codes,
in data extracts.
Select All Races or any combination of values: Black / African American, Other Races Combined, White.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?.
Notes:
Select All Categories or any combination of values:
Large Central Metro, Large Fringe Metro, Medium Metro, Small Metro, Micropolitan (non-metro), NonCore (non-metro).
Each county is classified as one of six categories.
Each death is associated with a category based on the county of the person's legal residence.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?.
Notes:
Step 4. Select underlying cause of death:
Select the International Classification of Disease (ICD) categories
that represent the underlying cause of death from the death certificate.
Only 1 underlying cause of death is indicated for each death.
Any number of causes can be specified here.
However, you can only request data from one of the lists,
for the ICD codes (organized by chapter), or the groups of selected causes of death.
Be sure the radio button for ICD Codes or ICD Groups is set to your choice.
The ICD system is organized by chapters, sub-chapters and codes.
How?
-
Click the Radio Button to the left of the box, to pick
your preferred list.
- Select one or more items from the list to limit your data.
The default value for any list is all causes of death.
- See How do use a Finder?
to learn more about search options, expanding or collapsing selected items,
and displaying details for selected items in the Finder.
- The "plus" symbol, "+" indicates that you can open the item, to see more items below it.
- The results to a search are shown in blue, and indicated by ">".
- The Advanced mode let you easily pick several items from different parts of the list.
Items are not selected until you click the "Move" button in Advanced mode.
-
You may also enter values by hand, one code per line, in the Advanced mode.
Use the Finder to see the correct code format.
For example, "I20-I25" is the ICD-10 code for ischemic heart diseases, and
"GR113-059" is the Selected Causes of Death ICD-10 Group code for acute myocardial infarction.
- See Finder Tool help for more hints.
Hints:
-
Refer to the following sections for more information on cause of death classifications:
- ICD-10 Codes
- ICD-10 113 Groups for selected causes of deaths
- ICD-10 130 Groups for infant mortality
-
Only those ICD codes that are used to classify underlying causes of death in the mortality data
are available in the Finder for this section. Symptons are not classified as underlying causes of death.
-
Deaths in the years 1999 and later are coded to the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
There are 113 selected causes of death groups for the ICD-10 codes.
-
When you select a code, remember that some deaths are coded to the 3 length code, and not the more detailed designation.
Thus some deaths may be excluded from your data selection if your criteria are limited to only 4 length codes.
For example, the ICD-10 code A09 is the correct specification; A09.0 will not pick up deaths coded A09.
-
The causes of death are identified by two columns, labels and codes,
in data extracts.
Notes:
-
About the International Classification of Diseases:
The mortality data are compiled in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) regulations,
which specify that member nations classify and code causes of death in accordance with the
current revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD).
The International Classification of Diseases is developed collaboratively between the World Health Organization (WHO)
and 10 international centers, for purposes of ensuring that medical terms reported on death certificates are
internationally comparable and lend themselves to statistical analysis.
The ICD has been revised approximately every 10 years since 1900 in
order to reflect changes in understanding of disease mechanisms and in disease terminology.
-
See also ICD 10th revision notes.
Limit the data to any number of causes of death, for selected chapters, sub-chapters or codes.
The default selection is "all causes" of death.
How?
See Step 4. Select cause of death or Step 5. Select multiple cause of death.
Check the Hints section.
Notes:
-
The International Classification of Disease (ICD) 10th revision
is used to represent the causes of death for the years 1999 and later.
The ICD system is organized by chapters, sub-chapters and codes.
-
ICD-10 uses a 4-length alphanumeric coding scheme.
Each of the 21 chapters in ICD-10 is classified to a letter or letters of the alphabet.
Infectious disease codes in Chapter 1, for example, begin with an "A" or "B".
Thus, Acute poliomyelitis is associated with the codes A80.0-A80.9 and Viral hepatitis is classified as B15.0-B19.9.
The ICD 10 system begins codes with a letter from the alphabet, followed by two numerals,
then a decimal point to indicate subordinate position, and then more numerals.
Some causes of death are represented by 3 length codes,
although most causes of death are represented by 4 length codes (format A12.3).
Greater detail than 4 length codes are not included in the data.
-
About Underlying Cause of Death:
-
The underlying cause-of-death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury." Underlying cause-of-death is selected from the conditions entered by the physician on the cause of death section of the death certificate. When more than one cause or condition is entered by the physician, the underlying cause is determined by the sequence of conditions on the certificate, provisions of the ICD, and associated selection rules and modifications.
-
Each death certificate contains a single underlying cause of death.
-
Only those ICD codes that are used to classify underlying causes of death in the mortality data
are available in the Finder for selecting underlying causes of death. Symptons are not classified as underlying causes of death.
-
About Multiple Cause of Death:
-
Each death certificate contains up to twenty multiple causes of death.
-
The ICD-10 "S" and "T" chapters are available in the Finder for selecting multiple causes of death.
Symptom and "nature of injury" classifications are available for the Multiple Cause of Death field,
although not available in the Underlying Cause of Death field.
-
You cay form Boolean "AND" queries for Multiple Causes of Death. More information.
-
When data are grouped by Multiple Cause of Death, the numbers of deaths are shown attributed to each cause.
However, a single person's death may have up to 20 causes on the death certificate.
Thus the total number of deaths per cause may exceed the actual number of dead persons in the selected population.
-
About deaths due to acts of terrorism:
Beginning with data for 2001, NCHS introduced categories *U01-*U03 for
classifying and coding deaths due to acts of terrorism.
The asterisks before the category codes indicate that they are
not part of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).
Description of the specific 4-digit codes can be found at
NCHS Classifications of Diseases, Functioning and Disability: Appendix I.
Deaths classified to the terrorism categories are included in the categories for
Assault (homicide) and Intentional self-harm (suicide) in the 113 cause-of-death list.
Additional information on these new categories can be found at
NCHS Classifications of Diseases, Functioning and Disability:
Classification of Death and Injury Resulting from Terrorism.
Terrorism related deaths in this data do not represent a final count of deaths resulting from the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, as this figure had not been determined.
As of October 24, 2002, death certificates were issued for 2,957 of the estimated 3,028
individuals believed to have died as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Of these, four were issued for terrorists and are classified as suicides.
The criteria for issuing a death certificate for those believed to have died in the attacks differed by
state, reflecting differences in state laws regarding death certification.
Pennsylvania issued a death certificate for every individual, including the terrorists.
Death certificates were not issued for any of the terrorists in Virginia or New York City.
Virginia issued a death certificate only for those victims whose remains were identified.
New York City issued a death certificate for those whose remains were identified or,
if remains were not recovered, for those whose families applied for a death certificate.
For more detailed information regarding New York City's processing of these deaths,
see
Deaths in World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks---New York City, 2001.
Limit the data to any number of groups of selected causes of death.
How?
See Step 4. Select cause of death or Step 5. Select multiple cause of death.
Notes:
-
Deaths in the years 1999 and later are coded to the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
There are 113 selected causes of death groups for the ICD-10 codes.
-
NCHS has defined selected causes of death groups for analysis of mortality data:
the "113 Selected Causes of Death" for all age groups, and the
the "130 Selected Cause of Infant Death" categorize ICD-10 codes for analysis of deaths in the years 1999 and later.
The group code values are not actual ICD codes published in the International Classification of Diseases,
but are "recodes" defined to support analysis by the Selected Causes of Death groups.
-
Group the data by "ICD-10 113 Groups" and also by "Cause of Death" to see the individual ICD codes included in each category.
ICD-10 130 Groups (Infants) - 130 Selected Causes of Infant Death
Limit the data to any number of groups of selected causes of death, or individual codes.
How?
See Step 4. Select cause of death or Step 5. Select multiple cause of death.
Notes:
-
Deaths in the years 1999 and later are coded to the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
There are 130 Selected Causes of Infant Death groups for the ICD-10 codes.
-
NCHS has defined selected causes of death groups for analysis of all ages mortality data:
the "113 Selected Causes of Death" for all age groups, and the
the "130 Selected Cause of Infant Death" categorize ICD-10 codes for analysis of deaths in the years 1999 and later.
The group code values are not actual ICD codes published in the International Classification of Diseases,
but are "recodes" defined to support analysis by the Selected Causes of Death groups.
Step 5. Select multiple cause of death
Limit the data to only those deaths that indicate the selected causes of death in the Multiple Cause of Death field.
Each death certificate can include up to 20 causes of death in the Multiple Cause of Death field.
How?
-
Be sure the round radio button indicates your desired classification system.
See 'How to change a radio button'.
-
Your selections to limit the data must go into the top most box under the "Select Records" area on the left.
When the box is blank, all causes of death are the possible value.
-
Enter codes by hand, one per line. Or find items in the Finder Tool on the right,
and then use the "Move Items Over" button in the middle to move the highlighted items from the Finder.
Note: Javascript must be enabled for the "Move" and "Clear" buttons to work. Enter or clear codes by hand if the buttons don't work.
-
See 'How to use the Finder Tool' or
Finder Tool Help for more information.
-
You can form Boolean "AND" queries for Multiple Causes of Death. More information.
Notes:
-
Refer to the following sections for more information on cause of death classifications:
- ICD-10 Codes
- ICD-10 113 Groups for selected causes of deaths
- ICD-10 130 Groups for infant mortality
-
About Multiple Cause of Death:
-
Each death certificate contains up to twenty multiple causes of death.
-
The ICD-10 "S" and "T" chapters are available in the Finder for selecting multiple causes of death.
These "Nature of Injury" and symptom classifications are available for the Multiple Cause of Death field,
although not available in the Underlying Cause of Death field.
-
You can form Boolean "AND" queries for Multiple Causes of Death. More information.
-
When data are grouped by Multiple Cause of Death, the numbers of deaths are shown attributed to each cause.
However, a single person's death may have up to 20 causes on the death certificate.
Thus the total number of deaths per cause may exceed the actual number of dead persons in the selected population.
-
About Boolean AND queries:
-
You can form Boolean "AND" queries that limit your data results to those deaths
with any cause in the top box AND any cause in the lower box,
such as deaths with both diabetes and nephritis on the same death certificate.
-
Note that more than one ICD-10 code in the same box is treated as "this cause OR that cause."
-
The "AND" condition is imposed for the join of the set of codes in the top box and the set of codes in the bottom box.
For example, if the top box has codes for hypertensive renal disease (I12) and also chronic ischemic heart disease (I25],
and the bottom box has codes for diabetes mellitus (E10-E14),
then the results will show deaths where the record indicates both
hypertensive renal disease AND diabetes mellitus occurring, and also
deaths where the record indicates both
chronic ischemic heart disease AND diabetes mellitus occurring at the time of death.
Step 6. Select rate options:
| Calculate Rates Per |
|
Select the factor (multiplier) for your rates.
By default, all ages rates are calculated per 100,000 persons,
and rates limited to infant age groups are calculated per 1,000 persons.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?
|
| Include age-adjusted rates? |
|
Crude rates are reported by default.
Indicate that you wish to calculate age-adjusted rates by clicking the preferred radio button.
Then choose the standard population to use for the ratios in the calculation.
For more information, see:
Age-Adjusted Rates and
Frequently Asked Questions about Death Rates.
How? See How do I use a radio button?
Notes:
- Group your data by any variable, except for Age Groups.
You are prevented from grouping the data by age groups
when requesting age-adjusted rates for mortality data,
because any single age group alone yields a corresponding weight of 1.
- Likewise, you must select more than 1 age group
when requesting age-adjusted rates for mortality data.
- Deaths coded to the "unknown" age groups do not yield a proportional weight,
as there is no corresponding population value.
- Select the combined age group for all persons less than 1 year of age.
Age-adjusted rates are not available for deaths codes to the specific
Infant Age Groups, because the representative population value for each infant age group
is the (same) number of live births in selected time period.
|
| Populations for Age-Adjusted Rates |
|
If you picked standard age-adjusted rates, then
the list of possible standard populations used to calculate these age-adjusted rates is shown.
See Age-Adjusted Rates for more information.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?
Note: The standard populations do not include representations of all age groups
included in the mortality data.
Your request criteria must combine data for the following ranges of ages:
"5 - 14 years" combined and "15 - 24 years" combined.
|
| Non-standard Age-Adjusted Rates |
|
If you picked non-standard age-adjusted rates, then
options for selecting possible actual population criteria are shown.
The actual population values for the specified year, race and location selections
provide the age-specific proportional weights that calculate these age-adjusted rates.
See Frequently Asked Questions about Death Rates for more information.
How?
- See How do I select items from the list box?
- Type the desired Location code value into the box, one code per line.
Or leave the box empty for the entire US (national population).
Any Region, division, state or county code shown in the Finder at Step 2 is valid.
Note: If the same population is picked for your query criteria and your non-standard age-adjusted rate calculations,
then the crude rates and age-adjusted rates are identical for those data rows that represent the non-standard population denominator.
|
Step 7. Other options:
| Export Results |
|
If checked query results are exported to a local file. More information on how to import this file into
other applications can be found here.
How? See How do I use a checkbox?
|
| Show Totals |
|
If checked totals and sub-totals will appear in the results table.
How? See How do I use a checkbox?
|
| Show Zero Values |
|
If checked rows containing zero counts will appear in the results table.
If unchecked, zero count rows are suppressed.
How? See How do I use a checkbox?
|
| Precision |
|
Select the precision for rate calculations.
When the rate calculated for a small numerator (incidence count) is zero,
you may increase the precision to reveal the rate
by showing more numbers to the right of the decimal point.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?
|
| Data Access Timeout |
|
This value specifies the maximum time to wait for the data access for
a query to complete. If the data access takes too long to complete,
a message will be displayed and you can increase the timeout or
simplify your request. If you can't complete a request using the
maximum timeout, contact user support and we will try to run a
custom data request for you.
How? See How do I select items from the list box?
|
| Mortality Data Sources
|
The Multiple Cause of Death data are produced by the
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Mortality information is collected by state registries and
provided to the National Vital Statistics System.
Underlying cause of death and demographic
descriptors are indicated on the death certificates.
Each death certificate contains a single underlying cause of death, up to twenty additional multiple causes, and demographic data.
The underlying cause-of-death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury."
Underlying cause-of-death is selected from the conditions entered by the physician on the cause of death section of the death certificate. When more than one cause or condition is entered by the physician, the underlying cause is determined by the sequence of conditions on the certificate,
provisions of the International Classification of Diseases, and associated selection rules and modifications.
To learn more about the methods and source of these data please reference:
|
| Population Denominator Data Sources
|
The population estimates are bridged-race estimates based on Bureau of the Census estimates of
total U.S., State, and county resident populations.
The 1999 population estimates are intercensal estimates of the July 1 resident population,
based on the 1999 and year 2000 census counts.
The year 2000 population estimates are April 1 modified census counts.
The 2001 and later estimates are postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population.
Note that these estimates are based on bridged-race categories.
The population estimates are by geographic unit (total United States, State, and county), year, race (white, black, other races), sex, and age group (13 age groups).
To permit the calculation of infant mortality rates, NCHS live-birth data are included on the file.
For more information on the population estimates, see:
Population Data
|
Population Estimates
Reference the following topics to learn more about population denominators for rate calculation:
Population Information for the Current Release
1999 Population Estimates
2000 Population Estimates
2001 - 2004 Population Estimates
The population data are bridged-race estimates derived from U.S. Census Bureau files.
The population estimates for the year 1999 are intercensal estimates of the July 1, resident population,
estimates based on both the year 1990 and year 2000 census counts.
The population estimates for the Census year 2000 are April 1, modified census counts.
The population estimates for the non-Census years 2001 and later are
postcensal estimates of the July 1, resident population.
The following modifications of the Census population estimates were
made by NCHS:
- To permit the calculation of infant mortality rates, NCHS live-birth
data are included for "Infant age Groups."
The race code for these records is derived from "race of mother".
-
When the age group 1-4 years did not appear on the Census file, the
age group 0-4 years was multiplied by 0.8 to obtain an estimate of the
population 1-4 years.
Specific Details
-
1999 Population Estimates
The population estimates for 1999 are county-level U.S. Census Bureau bridged-race intercensal estimates of the July 1, resident population, based on the 1990 census and the bridged-race 2000 census.
Derivation of the race-specific intercensal population estimates for the 1990s was complicated by the incomparability of the race data on the 1990 and 2000 censuses.
Before the intercensal estimates for the 1990s could be derived, the race groups on the 2000 census had to be made consistent with ("bridged to") the race groups on the 1990 census.
Race data on the 2000 Census were collected in accordance with the 1997 Office of Management and Budget's standards on race and ethnicity.
The 1997 standards specify 5 single-race categories (American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White) and permit the reporting of more than one race.
As a result, there were 31 race groups on the 2000 census (5 single-race groups and 26 multiple-race groups).
NCHS, in collaboration with the Census Bureau, developed methodology for bridging the multiple-race groups to single-race categories (American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, and White).
The 1990 census race groups are White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander.
-
2000 Population Estimates
National, state, and county population estimates are from the
U.S. Census Bureau April 1, bridged modified race 2000 Census counts.
The original census counts were modified by the U.S. Census Bureau
to assign persons who reported their race as "other " to one of the
31 single or multiple-race groups specified in the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) 1997 Standards on Race and Ethnicity. The resulting counts
were then bridged to (made consistent with) the four single-race categories
on the 1990 Census (White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian
or Pacific Islander).
-
2001 - 2004 Population Estimates
The population estimates for 2001 and later are July 1 resident population
estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's bridged-race postcensal series.
The bridged-race population files have estimates for the four single-race
categories (White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander).
For the current release of the 1999-2004 data,
the national population figures for 2001 and beyond are bridged-race postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population from the corresponding postcensal series:
2001 from the Vintage 2001 series,
2002 from the Vintage 2002 series,
2003 from the Vintage 2003 series, and
2004 from the Vintage 2004 series.
The region, division, and state estimates were obtained by summing the county estimates of the Vintage 2005 series,
so the region, division, state and county estimates are consistent with each other.
If you have additional questions about the population estimates, please
see U.S. Census Populations With Bridged Race Categories
(http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/dvs/popbridge/popbridge.htm)
or contact PopEst@cdc.gov.
The questions are in three sections:
Questions about Death Rates
Data Release Questions
Race and Ethnicity Questions
-
Questions about Death Rates
-
How are crude death rates calculated in WONDER?
The "crude death rate" is the number of
deaths divided by the population, multiplied by 100,000.
Crude Death Rate = (number of deaths / population) * 100,000
Note: 100,000 is the default multiplier, other multipliers can be specified in the query.
-
How are age-adjusted death rates calculated in WONDER?
The age-adjusted rate is calculated by multiplying the age-specific death rate
for each age group by the corresponding weight from the specified standard population,
summing across all age groups, and then multiplying this result by 100,000
(or whatever multiplier is specified in the query).
Age-Adjusted Death Rate = Sum of (Age Specific Death Rate * Standard Population weight) * 100,000
The age-specific death rate is the number of deaths for a given age group divided
by the population of that age group.
Age Specific Death Rate = (number of deaths in age group / population of age group)
The "standard population weight " for an age
group is calculated by dividing the population for the age group by the sum
of the populations for all of the age groups in the query.
Please see the question below on "children under 1 year" age categories.
Standard Population Weight = population for age group
/ sum of age group populations for all age groups in query
See http://seer.cancer.gov/seerstat/tutorials/aarates/definition.html
for a step-by-step tutorial with an example of the calculations.
-
What are the "Standard" and "Non-Standard" populations?
WONDER allows the user to select the population distribution used
for calculating age-adjusted rates. Three "Standard" populations are offered: the year 2000 standard
population (the default), the 1970 standard population, and the 1940 standard
population. Alternatively, the user can specify a "Non-Standard" population for use as the population distribution in the
age-adjustment.
The 1940 and 2000 standard populations were obtained from the National
Center for Health Statistics. Beginning with the 1999 data year, NCHS adopted
the year 2000 projected population of the U.S. as the standard population for
use in age adjusting death rates. The year 2000 standard replaced the 1940 standard population that had
been used for over 50 years. The new population standard affects levels of mortality, and to some extent,
trends and group comparisons.
The 1970 standard population is the one used by the National Cancer Institute.
When the user requests that a "non-standard " population is used in the
calculation of age-adjusted rates, WONDER uses the Census population
estimates/counts included in the data to determine the weights used in the age-adjustment.
See Population Data Description
for more information.
-
What age categories are used for age-adjusted rates?
Only age groups that fall within the age range specified in the query are
used to calculate an age-adjusted rate.
The "total population" for a query is the sum of the populations
of each age group included in that query.
For example, if an age-adjusted rate is requested for 45-74 year olds,
then the total population is the sum of the 45-54 year olds, 55-64 year olds,
and 65-74 year old populations. For the 1940, 1970 and 2000 standard populations,
the possible age groups are:
less than 1 year, 1-4, 5-14, 15-24, 25-34, ....85 years and over.
If the user specifies a "non-standard" population for use in age-adjustment,
the possible age groups are:
less than 1 year, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-34, ....85 years and over.
Note that age groups differ from the age groups used for
"standard" years,
affecting the classification of deaths in the age range from 5 years to 24 years of age.
See Age Adjustment of Death Rates for more information.
-
What about children under 1 year and rate calculation?
When calculating mortality rates for "Infant Age Groups"
(under 1 day, 1-6 days, 7-27 days, 28-264 days),
the population is the number of live births in the given time period.
Note that age-adjusted rates cannot be calculated for infant age groups.
However, age-adjusted death rates are available for the age group
"under 1 year of age."
The "under 1 year of age" age group represents the population estimates for the given time period.
For more information, see Mortality for Infants.
-
Why are death rates sometimes flagged as "Unreliable" or "Suppressed"?
Death rates based on counts of twenty or less (death count <=20) are flagged as
"Unreliable". A death rate based on fewer
than 20 deaths has a relative standard error (RSE(R))of 23 percent or more.
A RES(R ) of 23 percent is considered statistically unreliable.
Death counts and death rates are "Suppressed" when the data meets the criteria for confidentiality constraints.
See Assurance of Confidentiality for more information.
-
Data Release Questions
-
What are the Assurance of Confidentiality constraints for the data?
The term "Suppressed" replaces some death counts and death rates.
The mortality data are suppressed due to confidentiality constraints, due to concern for protecting personal privacy.
For 1989 and later, counts and rates for counties with census year populations of less than 100,000, are replaced with "Suppressed"
if the number of deaths is five or less (death count <=5)
and the death count is based on only one or two years of data.
Notes:
Data years 1999 and later reference the year 2000 population figures for suppression.
Small death counts are not suppressed for counties with small populations if three or
The "total deaths" sum shown for each query includes the suppressed data.
The confidentiality constraints and use of the "Unreliable" flag are established by the original data providers.
For more information, please contact the data providers.
-
What are my responsibilities in accessing this data?
See Data Use Restrictions to review the policies affecting access to the data.
Note that use of the data implies consent or agreement to abide by the policies.
-
Why do the rates change for past years?
The rates change because the population estimates used the denominators in the rate calculations change.
The population estimates used as denominators change in order to provide the most recently available best estimate.
In the years following the decennial census, the Census Bureau annually produces a set of estimates
containing estimates of the current year population and revised estimates of the population for previous years.
Each set of estimates is referred to as a postcensal series.
-
Race and Ethnicity Questions
-
What racial categories are included in the "Other" classification?
The racial categories are white, black, and other races.
The "other races" categrory includes the American Indian or Alaskan Native race category and the Asian or Pacific Islander race category.
-
How are multi-racial persons classified?
Race data are collected on death certificates in accordance with the 1977 OMB standards on race and ethnicity.
The 1977 standards specified four race categories (white, black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander)
and did not permit more than one racial category to be identified for an individual.
Population data through the 1990s were also obtained in accordance with the 1977 standards.
Race data on the 2000 census were collected in accordance with the 1997 OMB standards on race and ethnicity.
The 1997 standards specify 5 single-race categories
(American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, black, Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and white)
and permit the reporting of more than one race.
As a result, there were 31 racial groups on the 2000 census
(5 single-race groups and 26 multiple-race groups).
NCHS, in collaboration with the Census Bureau,
developed methodology for bridging the multiple-race groups to single-race categories,
so that the race categories in the population data would match the race categories in the mortality data.
Please see U.S. Census Populations With Bridged Race Categories.
-
How are Hispanic persons who reported their race as "Other" on the census assigned to a race group?
The Census Bureau has assigned all persons (including Hispanic persons) who specified their race as "other" on the census
(1980, 1990, and 2000) to one of the OMB specified racial categories.
The algorithm used by the Census Bureau to make these assignments has differed for
the 1980, 1990, and 2000 censuses, and is described in the
Population Data section.
Mortality for Infants (under 1 Year of Age)
Causes of death among persons less than one year of age vary greatly during the first year of life,
and therefore special "rates" (actually, ratios) have long been used in public health to provide
meaningful indicators of infant mortality. Infant mortality rates are typically calculated as the
number of deaths per 1,000 live births.
Select "Infant Age Groups" for rates calculated
using the number live births as the population denominator.
The default multiplier for Infant Age Groups (live births population) is 1,000 births.
However, the default multiplier for death rates calculated with the poulation estimate
for persons under 1 year of age is 100,000 persons.
Three commonly used indicators of infant mortality that can be calculated in WONDER are:
-
Infant Mortality Rate
Number of deaths of infants (less than 1 year of age of death)
divided by the number of live births during a given period,
then multiplied by 1,000;
-
(Deaths of persons under 1 year of age) / Live Births) * 1000
-
Neonatal Mortality Rate
Number of deaths of infants less than 28 days of age
divided by the number of live births during a given period,
then multiplied by 1,000;
-
(Deaths of persons under 28 days of age) / Live Births) * 1000
-
Postneonatal Mortality Rate
Number of deaths of infants 28 days to 1 year of age
divided by the number of live births during a given period,
then multiplied by 1,000.
-
(Deaths of persons age 28 days to 1 year of age) / Live Births) * 1000
Note that all three indicators use the same denominator:
number of live births during a given period.
To support these and other infant mortality indicators,
the online database provides first-year mortality data as follows:
- Infant Age Groups
- less than one day old;
- 1 to 6 days old;
- 7 to 27 days old;
- and 28 to 364 days old.
Hints:
-
Select "Infant Age Groups" for rates calculated
using the number live births as the population denominator.
The default multiplier for Infant Age Groups (live births population) is 1,000 births.
-
The single age group labeled "under 1 of age year" in the standard "Age Groups" list
represents the population estimates for this age group.
(Prior to August 2006,
the number of live births in the given time period had been substituted for the "under 1 year of age" population estimates.
Since August 2006, the number of live births for the specified year are available separately.)
Death rates based on the population estimates are calculated per 100,000 persons,
unless another multiplier is specified.
-
Change the default multiplier for the rate per number of persons in the
Rate Options section on the Request screen.
Notes:
-
Age-adjusted rates are not available for the live births population,
because each infant age group uses the same population, the number of live births,
to produce the age-specific rates.
-
Age-adjusted rates are available for the "under 1 year of age" group, when this group is combined with other age groups.
Age-adjusted rates are not calculated for any single age group because the ratio is effectively "1" in this case.
-
The number of live births are not summed together for the population total when the data are grouped by
infant age groups, because the number of live births is used as the population denominator
for each infant age group.
Location Updates: notes about specific county-level changes in boundaries and codes
Comparable total deaths and death rates may be misleading for counties with changing boundaries.
The data collection may lag behind some Federal Information Processing (FIPS) location code changes.
Some places, such as independent cities and New York City boroughs are included as unique locations in the data.
Some county and census tract area (CA) locations are not included,
instead the deaths are associated with a neighboring county or the previous location name and FIPS code.
The list below of county-level changes is organized alphabetically by state name and then county name.
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Alaska boroughs and census areas:
Data are available for Alaskan boroughs and census areas, represented by FIPS code.
-
Denali borough, Alaska
On December 7, 1990, Denali, Alaska(FIPS code 02068) was organized, mostly from the Yukon-Koyukuk census area (FIPS code 02290) with a small part from Southeast Fairbanks (FIPS code 02240). Deaths and population estimates for Denali are available here beginning in the year 2003. For the years 1989-2002, deaths and population estimates for Denali have been recoded to Yukon-Koyukuk (FIPS code 02290).
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Yukon-Koyukuk, Alaska
Yukon-Koyukuk, Alaska (FIPS code 02290) shows a discontinuity in the mortality and population data for Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (FIPS code 02290) between 2002 and 2003. The discontinuity occurs because part of Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area became Denali Borough, Alaska (FIPS code 02068) and beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for this former part of Yukon-Koyukuk are reported for Denali Borough and are no longer included with data for Yukon-Koyukuk.
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Colorado:
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Adams, Colorado
Adams county, Colorado (FIPS code 08001)
shows a discontinuity in the mortality and population data between 2002 and 2003. This discontinuity occurs because territory in each of these four counties has been combined to form a new county, Broomfield, Colorado (FIPS code 08014). Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for this territory are reported for Broomfield county and are no longer included with data for Adams county.
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Boulder, Colorado
Boulder county, Colorado (FIPS code 08003)
shows a discontinuity in the mortality and population data between 2002 and 2003. This discontinuity occurs because territory in each of these four counties has been combined to form a new county, Broomfield, Colorado (FIPS code 08014). Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for this territory are reported for Broomfield county and are no longer included with data for Boulder county.
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Broomfield county
Broomfield county, Colorado (FIPS code 08014) was created effective November 15, 2001 from parts of four counties: Adams, Boulder, Jefferson, and Weld. Deaths and population estimates for Broomfield county appear in the data beginning in the year 2003. Deaths and population estimates before 2003 are coded to the original locations.
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Jefferson, Colorado
Jefferson county, Colorado (FIPS code 08059)
shows a discontinuity in the mortality and population data between 2002 and 2003. This discontinuity occurs because territory in each of these four counties has been combined to form a new county, Broomfield, Colorado (FIPS code 08014). Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for this territory are reported for Broomfield county and are no longer included with data for Jefferson county.
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Weld, Colorado
Weld county, Colorado (FIPS code 080123)
shows a discontinuity in the mortality and population data between 2002 and 2003. This discontinuity occurs because territory in each of these four counties has been combined to form a new county, Broomfield, Colorado (FIPS code 08014). Beginning in 2003, deaths and population counts for this territory are reported for Broomfield county and are no longer included with data for Weld county.
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Florida: Dade county and Miami city
Dade county, Florida (FIPS code 12025) was renamed Miami-Dade County and its FIPS code changed to 12086, effective November 13, 1997. The new code [12086] is used here.
-
Maryland: Baltimore city and Baltimore county
The independent city of Baltimore, Maryland has been treated as a county. Death counts and population estimates are reported separately for Baltimore city (FIPS code 24510) and Baltimore county (FIPS code 24005).
-
Missouri:
-
St. Genevieve county, Missouri
In order to achieve alphabetical consistency, the FIPS code for St. Genevieve, Missouri was changed in 1979 from 29193 to 29186. The new code (29186) is used here.
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St. Louis city and St. Louis county, Missouri
The independent city of St. Louis, Missouri has been treated as a county. Death counts and population estimates are reported separately for St. Louis city (FIPS code 29510) and St. Louis county (FIPS code 29189).
-
Nevada: Carson City
The independent city of Carson City, Nevada (FIPS code 32510) has been treated as a county. Death counts and population estimates are reported for Carson City.
-
New York: New York City boroughs
The five boroughs of New York City have been treated as counties and maintained as separate entities on this file.
|
| Borough | County | FIPS Code |
| Bronx | Bronx | 36005 |
| Brooklyn | Kings | 36047 |
| Manhattan | New York | 36061 |
| Queens | Queens | 36081 |
| Staten Island | Richmond | 36085 |
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-
Virginia independent cities:
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Alleghany, Virginia
Alleghany, Virginia (FIPS code 51005) shows a discontinuity in mortality and population data ) between 2000 and 2001.
This discontinuity occurs because beginning in 2001, death counts and population estimates for
Clifton Forge city, Virginia (FIPS code 51560) have been combined with those for Alleghany county.
-
Clifton Forge city, Virginia
On July 1, 2001, Clifton Forge city, Virginia (FIPS code 51560), formerly an independent city, merged with Alleghany county (FIPS code 51005). Deaths and population estimates are available for Clifton Forge city through the year 2000.
-
Nansemond city, Virginia
Nansemond city, Virginia (FIPS code 51123) has been part of the independent city of Suffolk, VA (FIPS code 51800) since 1979. For all years, death counts and population estimates for Nansemond have been aggregated with those for Suffolk city.
-
Table of Virginia independent cities and counties
The Virginia independent cities are treated as counties and appear on the data with the following FIPS codes:
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Independent City County
|
Name FIPS code Name FIPS code
|
Alexandria 51510 Arlington 51013
Bedford 51515 Bedford 51019
Bristol 51520 Washington 51191
Buena Vista 51530 Rockbridge 51163
Charlottesville 51540 Albemarle 51003
Chesapeake 51550
Clifton Forge 51560 Alleghany 51005
Colonial Heights51570 Chesterfield 51041
Covington 51580 Alleghany 51005
Danville 51590 Pittsyvania 51143
Emporia 51595 Greensville 51081
Fairfax 51600 Fairfax 51059
Falls Church 51610 Fairfax 51059
Franklin 51620 Southampton 51175
Fredericksburg 51630 Spotsylvania 51177
Galax 51640 Grayson 51077
Hampton 51650
Harrisonburg 51660 Rockingham 51165
Hopewell 51670 Prince George 51149
Lexington 51678 Rockbridge 51163
Lynchburg 51680 Campbell 51031
Manassas 51683 Prince William 51153
Manassas Park 51685 Prince William 51153
Martinsville 51690 Henry 51089
Newport News 51700
Norfolk 51710
Norton 51720 Wise 51195
Petersburg 51730 Dinwiddie 51053
Poquoson 51735 York 51199
Portsmouth 51740 Norfolk city 51710
Radford 51750 Montgomery 51121
Richmond 51760 Henrico 51087
Roanoke 51770 Roanoke 51161
Salem 51775 Roanoke 51161
Staunton 51790 Augusta 51015
Suffolk 51800
Virginia Beach 51810
Waynesboro 51820 Augusta 51015
Williamsburg 51830 James City 51095
Winchester 51840 Frederick 51069
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