2B. LEADING CAUSESOF DEATH
Figure2B-1A
LeadingCauses of Death amongArizonaResidents in2013
BASEDONTHENUMBEROFDEATHSDUETO THEUNDERLYINGCAUSE:
Based on the number of deaths (but not
age-adjustedmortality rate), the leading
underlying cause of death to Arizona
residents in 2013 was cancer (11,193 or
22.4 percent of all deaths), closely
followed by
heart disease
, which
accounted for 10,497 or 21.0 percent of
deaths (
Figure 2B-1A
,
Table 2B-1
,
Table 5E-14
). The third leading cause
of death,
chronic lower respiratory
diseases
, accounted for 3,295 or 6.6
percent of total deaths. Deaths due to
accidents (unintentional injuries)
ranked
fourth in 2013, with 3,137 resident
deaths reported. Deaths due to
Alzheimer?s disease
ranked fifth in 2013,
with 2,384 resident deaths reported.
Together, these five causes accounted
for 61.1 percent of total deaths in 2013.
The fifteen leading causes accounted for
79.3 percent of all deaths among
Arizona residents.
Figure2B-1B
LeadingCauses of Death amongArizonaResidents in2013
BASEDONTHENUMBEROFDEATHSDUETOANYMENTIONOFACAUSE:
For the purpose of mortality statistics,
every death is attributed to one
underlying condition or underlying cause
of death. The underlying cause is
defined as the disease or injury that
initiated the chain of events leading
directly to death. It is selected from up
to 20 causes and conditions entered by
the physician on the death certificate.
The totality of all these conditions is
known asmultiple cause of death.
In addition to 10,497 deaths that had
diseases of the heart assigned as the
underlying cause, another 9,390 deaths
had diseases of the heart assigned as a
secondary cause of death. The sum of
these two counts (19,887,
Figure 2B-
1B
) is the total number of deaths that
had anymention of diseases of the heart
on the 2013 death certificates. The
ranking based on any mention of the 15
diagnostic categories is different from
ranking of the leading causes of death
based on the underlying cause. In
particular,
essential
(primary)
hypertension ranked 10
th
as the
underlying cause but ranked 3
rd
when
anymention of it was counted.
1.MalignantNeoplasms
2.Diseasesof heart?
2.MalignantNeoplasms?
1.Diseasesof heart
110
Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics 2013
