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Leading Causes of Death by Race and Ethnicity in the United States.

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Leading Causes of Death by Race and Ethnicity in the United States.

According to the Centre for Disease and Control data, the country's most significant

number of deaths was among Whites, 2,179,857, African Americans, 335667, and Hispanics at

197 249 for the year 2017 (Ely et al., 2019). Among the Whites, the three leading causes of death

were heart diseases, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Among African Americans,

the three leading causes of death are diseases of the heart, cancer and accidents. The other cause

of death which stood out among the African Americans as opposed to the other ethnic groups

was homicide which was ranked seventh in this ethnic group. This could have been contributed

by high rates of poverty and insecurity in the neighbourhoods inhabited by the Blacks. Among

Hispanics, the three leading causes of death are cancer, heart disease and accidents.

The top ten leading causes of death among the Whites included diseases of the heart,

cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer

disease, diabetes mellitus, influenza and pneumonia, intentional self-harm, in other words,

suicide and finally, nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis. The diseases contributed to

74.4% of the total deaths among the Whites, which accounted for 1621814 deaths.

The top ten leading causes of death among African Americans included heart diseases,

cancer, accidents, also known as unintentional injuries and includes drug overdose and

unintentional alcohol poisoning, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, chronic lower

respiratory diseases, assault, nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis, Alzheimer disease,

and finally septicemia. The diseases contributed to 73.9% of the total African American deaths

during that period, accounting for 248058 people.

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The top ten leading causes of death among Hispanics included cancer, diseases of the

heart, accidents, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer disease, chronic liver

disease and cirrhosis, chronic lower respiratory diseases, intentional self-harm, and finally,

nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis. The diseases contributed to 73% of the total

Hispanic deaths, which accounted for 143992 people.

The three groups shared seven of the leading causes in common but had different relative

disease burdens. Heart disease was the first leading cause of death for Whites and African

Americans, but it was the second leading cause for the Hispanic populations (Hooper et al.,

2020). The relative burden of mortality from heart disease was 23.3% each in the non-Hispanic

white and non-Hispanic black populations and 20.0% in the Hispanic population. Cancer was the

first leading cause of death for the Hispanic populations, but it was the second leading cause for

the Whites and the Blacks. Cancer accounted for 21.4% in the white population, 20.8% in the

black population, and 20.6% in the Hispanic population. CLRD ranked third for the Whites,

accounting for 6.4% of deaths in this group, but it ranked eighth for the Hispanic populations

with 2.8%.

Unintentional injuries, stroke, Alzheimer disease, and diabetes also ranked among the top

10 causes of death for each race and Hispanic-origin group. Unintentional injuries ranked fourth

for Whites (5.8% of deaths), but it ranked third for Hispanics (8.5%) and African Americans with

5.9 % of the deaths. Stroke ranked fifth for the Whites but, fourth for the Blacks and Hispanic

populations. The percentage of deaths attributed to stroke was highest for African Americans at

5.7% of the deaths and lowest for Whites at 5% of the deaths. Alzheimer's disease ranked 6th for

the Whites, attributed for 4.7% of the deaths, Hispanic, and 3.7% of the deaths, but it ranked 9th

for the African Americans, attributable for 2.7% of the deaths. Diabetes ranked seventh for the
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white population (2.5% of deaths) and fifth for the Hispanics (4.7%) and African Americans

(4.4%).

Some of the leading causes were shared by some groups but not by others. Influenza and

pneumonia ranked eighth for the Whites, but it was not ranked in the ten leading causes of death

for the African Americans and Hispanic populations. Suicide was not ranked in the top 10 for the

American Americans but was among the ten leading causes for the other two groups: ninth for

the Whites and Hispanic populations. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis ranked seventh for the

Hispanic population, but it was not among the ten leading causes for the other groups.

Furthermore, some groups had unique leading causes. For African Americans, homicide ranked

7th and Septicemia 10th, but these causes were not ranked among the top 10 for the other race

and Hispanic-origin groups.

The other cause that was responsible for the deaths to a significant percentage across the

ethnic groups was accidents. It was ranked the fourth leading cause of death among Whites at

5.8%, claiming 126,432 lives, and ranked third among African Americans and Hispanics at 5.9%

and 8.5%, respectively, claiming a total of 36,571 lives. The reason for the high number of deaths

caused by accidents is that it is prevalent between the ages of one to forty-four years of age.

In the wake of the pandemic, chronic lower respiratory diseases, which include the Covid

19 virus, ranked next to heart diseases and cancer as the leading cause of death for the three

ethnic groups during 2019 and 2020, contributing to close to 1.6 million deaths across all the

ethnic groups (Rossen et al., 2020). However, due to the mass vaccination program, its ranking

in the top ten causes has dropped significantly. The pandemic has also indirectly impacted other

causes of mortality in the United States. Death rates for heart disease, accidents, stroke,

Alzheimer's, and diabetes rose between 2019 and 2020. Fear of getting health care or
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misattribution of COVID-19 fatalities to other causes are two possible factors. Accidental

fatalities (including drug overdoses and unintentional alcohol poisoning), assault, and suicide

continue to be prominent causes of mortality in the United States, particularly among Whites; the

pandemic may have had a role in some of these deaths.

Prevalence and Incidence Rates for the Different Ethnic Groups

Whites

The top five leading causes of death among Whites are heart diseases, cancer, chronic

lower respiratory diseases, accidents and stroke. Heart diseases accounted for 23.3% of the

deaths, which is approximately 507907 people, and cancer accounted for 21.4% of the deaths,

which is approximately 466490 people (Kochanek et al., 2019). Chronic lower respiratory

diseases had 6.4%, which accounted for 139510 deaths. Accidents, which were the fourth in the

ranking, had 5.8% and were attributable to 126432 deaths. Finally, stroke, which had 5%, was

attributable to 108993 deaths of the white population in the country. Cancer affected the white

population the most, at 21.4% compared to the other ethnicities. The Whites and the African

Americans were affected by heart diseases at the same rate, with heart diseases being responsible

for 23.3% of their deaths. Chronic lower respiratory diseases were also ranked highly among this

particular ethnic group (third) as opposed to the other ethnic groups.

African Americans

African Americans are considered a minority ethnic group in the country. They had

335667 deaths, according to the 2017 statistics from the Centre for Disease and Control. The top

five leading causes of death among Blacks are heart diseases, cancer, and accidents, also known

as unintentional injuries, including drug overdose and unintentional alcohol poisoning,

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cerebrovascular diseases, and diabetes mellitus. Heart disease was responsible for 23.3% of the

deaths, which translates to 78210 people. Cancer contributed to 20.8% of the deaths, which

translates to 69819 people. Unintentional injuries contributed to 5.9% of deaths, approximated as

19304 people. Stroke contributed to 5.7% of the deaths, which is attributable to 19133 people,

and finally, diabetes mellitus, which contributed to 4.4% of the deaths, is attributable to 14769

people. The top five leading causes are responsible for 60.1% of the deaths among members of

this ethnic group. The first two causes, however, are responsible for over 44% of the deaths.

Hispanics

Hispanics are considered a minority ethnic group in the country. The total number of

deaths for members of this ethnic group in the year 2017, according to the CDC statistics, was

197249 people. As opposed to the other ethnic groups, this group's leading cause of death is

cancer, which was responsible for 20.6% of deaths (Ahmad et al., 2021). Heart diseases come in

second at 20% and are attributable to 39450 deaths. These two causes are responsible for over

40% of the total deaths of members of this particular ethnic group. Accidents or unintentional

injuries come in third at 8.5% affecting 16766 people. Accidents also affected members of this

ethnic group at a higher rate than the other ethnic groups. Stroke came in fourth, responsible for

10849 deaths at 5.5%. Finally, diabetes mellitus closed the list of the top five causes of death

among members of this ethnic group at 4.7% and is attributable to 9271 deaths. Members of this

group are also the ones who are greatly affected by diabetes mellitus compared to the other

ethnic groups, with a 4.7% rate compared to 4.4% of the Blacks and 2.7% of the Whites.
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References

Ahmad, F. B., Cisewski, J. A., Miniño, A., & Anderson, R. N. (2021). Provisional mortality data

—united states, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(14), 519.

Ely, D. M., & Driscoll, A. K. (2019). Infant mortality in the United States, 2017: data from the

period linked birth/infant death file.

Hooper, M. W., Nápoles, A. M., & Pérez-Stable, E. J. (2020). COVID-19 and racial/ethnic

disparities. Jama, 323(24), 2466-2467.

Kochanek, K. D., Murphy, S. L., Xu, J., & Arias, E. (2019). Deaths: final data for 2017.

Rossen, L. M., Branum, A. M., Ahmad, F. B., Sutton, P., & Anderson, R. N. (2020). Excess

deaths associated with COVID-19, by age and race and ethnicity—United States, January

26–October 3, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(42), 1522.