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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Changing causes of death of elderly people in the United States, 1950-1990 | | Author(s) | David W E Smith |
| Journal title | Gerontology, vol 44, no 6, November-December 1998 |
| Pages | pp 331-335 |
| Keywords | Death rate [statistics] ; Heart disease ; Cerebrovascular diseases ; Cancer ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Causes of death have changed greatly in the US during the 20th century. The author uses data from `Vital statistics of the United States' for 1950 to 1990, to calculate mortality rates for the 85-89 age group, and the percentage of deaths attributed to circulatory diseases, ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, and cancer. There are large peaks around 1970 in both the mortality rate of ischaemic heart disease and the percentage of total deaths attributed to this cause. The peaks have been followed by declines. Death rates from cancer and the percentage of deaths attributed to cancer have increased since 1950. These changes have coincided with major changes in medical science and care, the identification of the risk factors predisposing to ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases, and the implementation of Medicare, a programme of health care benefits to everyone aged over 65 which is supported by the US government. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-981118003 A |
| Classmark | S5: CQH: CQ5: CK: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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