Download About the Florida Mortality Atlas

The Florida Mortality Atlas provides a visual display of the most recent leading causes of death in
Florida. Age groups are divided into roughly ten year increments to display the difference in the top five
leading causes of death. Causes of death are presented for the total population as well as whites, blacks,
and Hispanics. Additionally, a breakdown of each cause of death also shows the difference in age and
sex. Maps are color coded to show which areas of the state have highest and lowest rates for the
selected cause of death. Counties with the darkest color represent the highest age-adjusted death rates
and those with the lightest color represent the lowest age-adjusted death rates.
Age-adjusted death rates remove the difference between populations due to differences in age
composition. Using age-adjusted rates is a common practice that makes it possible to compare rates
across populations. Age-adjusted rates are calculated using the US 2000 Standard Population.
The sources of data for the Florida Mortality Atlas are the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital
Statistics, the United States Census Bureau, and the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and
Demographic Research.
Trends in Mortality
Infectious diseases were the major killers of Floridians in the early 1900s. Influenza, pneumonia,
tuberculosis, syphilis and enteric infections were among the top 10 causes of death in the first third of
this century and often struck down Floridians in the prime of their youth. Chronic diseases have
overtaken communicable diseases as the leading causes of death due an increase in standard of living,
hygienic changes, and advances in the control of infectious disease. In 2011, malignant neoplasm
(cancer), heart disease, chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD), cerebrovascular disease (stroke), and
diabetes mellitus comprised 60.9 percent of all deaths in Florida, compared to less than 20 percent
seventy years ago. Although overall life expectancy continues a long- term upward trend, gains in the
United States continue to lag behind other countries such as Canada and Japan.
The overall decline in age-adjusted death rates continued from 1970 to 2011, as seen in figure 1. Though
the gap between death rates of blacks and whites is diminishing, blacks experienced significantly higher
age-adjusted death rates than whites, 763.5 and 670.6 deaths per 100,000 population respectively.
During this period, an increase in life expectancy is present for all races, but the increase is significant for
black men. Declines in death rates in the last 10 years can be largely attributed to a decrease in the rate
of deaths due to heart disease. Even with the drop in rates (from 238.6 to 154.7 per 100,000
population), heart disease continues to be the second leading cause of death in Florida and the United
States, accounting for 23.4 percent of all deaths.
In 2011 for the first time, malignant neoplasm (cancer) is the leading cause of death in Florida,
surpassing deaths due to heart disease, as seen in figure 2. The age-adjusted death rate decreased from
187.6 to 161.3 deaths per 100,000 population over a ten year period. Malignant neoplasm (cancer)
accounted for almost 23.8 percent of all deaths in 2011. Deaths in unintentional injuries (accidents),
chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD), and cerebrovascular disease (stroke) round out the top five
leading causes of death in 2011. Since 1999, an increase in the age-adjusted death rate has occurred for
unintentional injury, Alzheimer’s disease, suicide, nephritis (kidney disease), septicemia, hypertension,
Parkinson’s disease, benign neoplasms, and homicide, as seen in figure 2.
The total age-specific mortality rate for children under 1 year of age has favorably changed (figure 3),
decreasing from 702.3 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 614.6 per 100,000 population in 2011. This is
important because life expectancy at birth is strongly influenced by infant and child mortality. The agespecific rate of death caused by congenital malformations and disorders related to short gestations and
low birth weight—the two leading causes of death in 2000 and 2011 for children less than 1 year of
age—has slightly decreased over the past decade. Additionally, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
and deaths from maternal complications of pregnancy decreased from 0.5 and 1.0 in 2000 to 0.2 and 0.6
per 1,000 live births in 2011, respectively. However, for children less than 1 year of age, unintentional
injury deaths increased from 0.3 in 2000 to 0.4 per 1,000 live births in 2011.
In both 2000 and 2011, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death for Floridians ages 1 to 44,
present in figures 4-8. From 1970 to 2011, the age-specific rate of death due to unintentional injuries
decreased by about 73% for children ages 1 to 4 (figure 4) and 89% for children ages 5 to 14 (figure 5).
Since 2000, the rate continues to decline for those under 25. However, it is increasing for ages 25 to 34
(figure 7) and 45 to 64 (figures 9-10), and continues to be among the top five leading causes of death for
those age groups. When compared to 2000 data, unintentional injuries replaced stroke as a leading
cause of death for those ages 55-64 (figure 10).
For residents age 45 and older (figures 9-13), malignant neoplasm (cancer) and heart disease were the
top two leading causes of death. Malignant neoplasm (cancer) and heart disease deaths have both
decreased from 520.7 and 755.5 in 2000 to 472.1 and 466.2 in 2011, respectively. From 2000 to 2010,
heart disease replaced HIV/AIDS as the fifth leading cause of death for those 25-34 (figure 7).
Additionally, for residents ages 75 to 84, Alzheimer’s disease replaced diabetes mellitus as a leading
cause of death (figure 12).
When observing the age of death in 2011, black males experience higher death rates across most ages
for malignant neoplasm (cancer), heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), nephritis (kidney
disease), septicemia, hypertension, homicide, and HIV/AIDS, present in figures 15, 17, 23, 29, 37, 39, 45,
and 47. White men experience higher death rates for suicide and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
(figures 31 and 33, respectively), especially at the ages of 40 to 70. A racial and gender gap is present for
all leading causes of death.