Mortality of the last decade: cause of death

Alexander Fishkov, Ph.D. student Computer Science

Today we will be looking at mortality statistics of United States provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is a part of Department of Health and Human Services.

On the graph below for each value of age along X axis we plot proportions of people who died at that age due to various causes. Causes are grouped according to International Classification of Diseases. You can click on legend items to hide certain causes and also filter by various demographic groups simultaneously.

We can see an obvious pattern along the age scale. Approximately half of all deaths among children (those under 18 years old) happen due to external causes. During their younger years kids are usually well protected from many dangerous situations, while many hereditary diseases have already manifested. From 16 to 25 years we see an increase in external causes that is likely due to a lot of risky activities that become more accessible with the approach of adulthood.

In later years, heart disease, cancer and other tumors become the leading causes of death. It is interesting to note that after the age of 70, the cancer mortality proportion decreases, while circulatory (mainly heart) problems proportion continues to increase.

Another observation is along gender scale: the male population seems to suffer more from external causes than the female population across all ages. On the other hand, cancer is more prominent in females' mortality causes, especially in middle age (30-40 years).

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About Alexander Fishkov

Alexander Fishkov, Ph.D. student Computer Science

Alexander is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science. He currently holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Applied Math. He has experience working for industry major companies performing research in the fields of machine learning, data mining and natural language processing. In his free time, Alexander enjoys hiking, Nordic skiing and traveling.

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