Clinical Edge

Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Midlife Death Rates Among Racial & Ethnic Groups

BMJ; ePub 2018 Aug 15; Woolf, Chapman, et al

Publish date:

Midlife mortality rates in the US are increasing across racial-ethnic populations for a variety of conditions, offsetting years of progress in lowering mortality rates. This according to a systematic analysis of vital statistics that compared midlife mortality patterns in the US across racial and ethnic groups during 1999-2016. US adults aged 25 to 64 years were included in the analysis. Among the findings:

  • Midlife mortality rates in the US are increasing not only among non-Hispanic whites but also among Hispanics and non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaskan Natives, blacks, and Asians and Pacific Islanders.
  • Drug overdoses were the leading cause of increased mortality in midlife in each population.
  • Mortality also increased for alcohol-related conditions, suicides, and organ diseases involving multiple body systems.
  • The relative increase in US midlife mortality differed by sex and geography.

Citation:

Woolf SH, Chapman DA, Buchanich JM, Bobby KJ, Zimmerman EB, Blackburn SM. Changes in midlife death rates across racial and ethnic groups in the United States: Systematic analysis of vital statistics. [Published online ahead of print August 15, 2018]. BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.k3096.

This Week's Must Reads