Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (56)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Steenland, K.
Right arrow Articles by Adams, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Steenland, K.
Right arrow Articles by Adams, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 136, No. 7: 855-862
Copyright © 1992 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Use of Multiple-Cause Mortality Data in Epidemiologic Analyses: US Rate and Proportion Files Developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Cancer Institute

Kule Steenland, Sue Nowlin and Steven Adams

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Cincinnati, OH

Reprint requests to Dr. Kyle Steenland, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, R-13, Cincinnati, OH 45226

Received for publication December 31, 1991. Revision received March 23, 1992. The authors have created US mortality rates (age, sex, race, and calendar-time specific) and proportions, using multiple cause-of-death data, for the years 1960–1989. Multiple cause-of-death data include the usual underlying cause of death from the death certificate as well as contributory causes and other significant conditions. US multiple-cause rates and proportions enable the user to calculate the expected occurrences of disease on the death certificates of a cohort under study. There is an average of 2.66 causes and/or contributory conditions listed on US death certificates, increasing over time from 2.54 in the 1960s to 2.76 in the 1980s. The ratio of multiple-cause listings to underlying cause listings varies by disease, from low ratios for cancers to high ratios for diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, prostate disease, hypertension, pneumoconiosis, and renal disease. Use of these data is illustrated with two cohorts. Multiple-cause analysis (but not underlying cause analysis) revealed twofold significant excesses of renal disease and arthritis among granite cutters. For workers exposed to dioxin, neither multiple-cause nor underlying cause analysis indicated any excess of diabetes, an outcome of a priori interest. Good candidates for multiple-cause analysis are diseases that are of long duration, not necessarily fatal, yet serious enough to be listed on the death certificate.

arthritis; casuality; diabetes mellitus; dioxins; kidney diseases; sillica


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.