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5. Patterns ofMortalityamongAgingArizonans
5.1 Introduction
Consistent with national trends, Arizona?s older adult population is both increasing in number
and coming to represent a greater proportion of the total population. As the number and
proportion of olderArizonans increase, it becomes evermore important to understand the
leading causes ofmortality among this age group. To illustrate the impact of longer lifespans on
mortality, from 2002 and 2012, deaths among residents 65 years and older increased 16 percent.
Deaths amongpersons in the oldest portion of this population, residents 85 years and older,
showed the highest percent increase of 33.5 percent. Analyzinghow chronic diseases, infectious
diseases, and other causes of death influence patterns ofmortality amongolder adults provides
information that can be used to plan for the increasing societal costs associatedwith themortality
of an agingpopulation.
5.2Methodology
To investigate patterns ofmorality amongArizona?s older adults, we examined the leading
causes of death amongArizonans age 65 and older, both as awhole aswell as by age group (65
? 74 years, 75 ? 84 years, and 85+ years) and gender. Initially, demographic characteristics of
decedentswere reported and include race/ethnicity, educational attainment,marital status, and
urban or rural residence location (urban counties includeMaricopa, Pinal, Pima, andYuma
counties and rural counties includeApache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz,
Mohave, Navajo, SantaCruz, andYavapai counties). Next,mortality counts and rates among
Arizonans age 65 and older in 2012 based on combined causes of death (common descriptions
capturingbroad disease categories such as diseases of the heart, all cancers, and chronic lower
respiratorydiseases)were compared to national death counts from 2011, whichwere themost
recent available national death data. Individual causes of death represented by single ICD-10
codeswere then used to assess the specific causes responsible for the greatest number of deaths
and highestmortality rates amongArizona?s older adults. Finally, trends in the leading specific
causes of death identified for olderArizonans in 2012were examined from 2002 ? 2012.
Data in this section reported forArizonanswere collected from information reported on death
certificates submitted to theArizonaOffice ofVital Records by funeral directors,medical
examiners, coroners, and physicians. Cause-of-death classifications are in accordancewith the
International Statistical Classification of Diseases andRelatedHealthProblems, 10thRevision
(ICD-10), 2008Edition. Leading causes of death amongArizona residents 65 years and older
were compiled based on 2012 death data and individual ICD-10 codes. Population denominators
used to calculate death rateswere produced by theArizonaDepartment ofHealthServices?
(ADHS) PopulationHealth andVital Statistics Section in collaborationwith theArizona
Department of Economic Security (AZDES) and theOffice of Employment andPopulation
Statisticswithin theArizonaDepartment ofAdministration (ADOA).
