Florida Mortality Atlas
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The Florida Mortality Atlas provides a visual display of leading causes
of death in Florida. Causes of death are presented for the total
population and then by race (white and non-white). For 1999-2003, the
information is available by gender as well. All files are provided in .pdf
format for convenient printing.
The Florida Mortality Atlas uses maps to depict causes of death by
county. These maps are color coded to show which areas of the state have
highest and lowest rates of selected causes of death. The color-coded maps
provide a relative ranking among counties with the darkest color
representing the highest age-adjusted death rates and the lightest color
representing the lowest age-adjusted death rates.
Since the occurrence of many health conditions is related to age, the
most common adjustment for public health data is age-adjustment. The
Florida Mortality Atlas uses age-adjusted mortality rates so that
differences in the age composition are removed, allowing for comparisons
independent of age structure. The Florida Mortality Atlas has been age
adjusted using the US 2000 Standard Population.
The sources of data for the Florida Mortality Atlas are the Florida
Department of Health’s Office of Vital Statistics, the US Census Bureau,
and the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
Trends in Mortality
There has been an overall decline in age-adjusted death rates from 1970
to 2003. Though the gap between death rates of Nonwhites and Whites is
diminishing, Nonwhites experienced significantly higher age-adjusted death
rates during the period than did Whites.
The overall decline in age-adjusted death rates in the last 30 years
can be largely attributed to a 43.7% decrease in the rate of deaths due to
heart disease. Even with the drop in rates, heart disease continues to be
the leading cause of death in Florida and the United States. Although
there has been a slight reduction in rates, cancer deaths remain
relatively the same and rank as the second leading cause of death. There
have also been significant decreases in age-adjusted death rates for six
other leading causes of death. For example, the age-adjusted death rates
for stroke decreased by 65.2%, the largest reduction in rates for any of
the leading causes of death.
Since 1970, increases in age-adjusted death rates have occurred for
three of the leading causes of death: chronic lower respiratory disease,
diabetes, and kidney disease. Chronic lower respiratory disease, which
includes asthma deaths, increased by 109.4%. Diabetes deaths increased by
18.9% and deaths attributed to kidney disease increased by 106.5%. Since
1980, the first year for which data are available, deaths due to
Alzheimer’s disease have also increased steadily.
The total age-specific mortality rate for children under 1 year of age
has decreased from 1970 to 2000. The age-specific rate of death caused by
perinatal conditions—the leading cause of death in 1970 and 2000 for
children less than 1 year of age—decreased by more than two-thirds over
the 30-year period. Congenital anomalies ranks as the second leading cause
of death for children less than 1 year of age.
In 2000, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death in Florida
for persons ages 1 to 44. The age-specific rate of death due to
unintentional injuries decreased by more than 50% for children ages 1 to 4
from 1970 to 2000. For residents ages 45-74, cancer is the leading cause
of death. HIV/AIDS ranks as one of the top five causes of death for
Florida residents ages 25 to 54.