Top 5 Leading Causes of Death
May 2014
1100 Graham Road Circle
Stow, Ohio 44224
(330) 926-5764
Introduction
The top 5 causes of death is an important indicator in determining where to focus
prevention and intervention. Determining the top causes of death for a particular
population can be used as a guide to recommend specific health initiatives. This report
utilized Summit County, Ohio local death certificates to gather the research for this
report. It should be noted, the accuracy of official death certificates are often taken for
granted (Noymer, Penner, & Saperstein, 2011). Although death certificate data may
have some limitiations, there is much information that can be retrieved for death
certificates.
Prior research has revealed that racial and ethnitic idenities are reported
inconsistently on death certificates. For example, studies show people who selfreported to the U.S. Census as American Indian or Asian Pacific Islander are sometimes
reported on death certificates as white (Murphy, Xu, & Kochanek, 2013). The overall
effect of misclassifying deaths in a particular racial or ethnic population results in an
underestimation of deaths among Indians/Native Americans, Hispanics/ Latinos, and
Asian American/ Pacific Islanders and over reporting deaths for black and white
populations
Reporting the cause of death can have some variation based on the primary and
secondary reasons the person died. The primary cause of death is the disease, situation
or events that started the chain of events resulting in death. The secondary cause of
death is the complications or consequences of the primary disease. The actual cause of
death could be a result of the primary illness. For example, when a person has diabetes
his or her chances of having a stroke are 2 to 4 times higher than a person who does not
have diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2013). If the person diagnosed with
diabetes has a stroke and dies from complications resulting from the stroke, the cause
of death may be recorded as a stroke or diabetes.
In order to focus public health initiatives around specific health conditions it is
important to know the primary cause of death. This report will display data specific to
Summit County, Ohio death records from 2001-2010. In this report, it is recognized that
the primary cause of death may not be considered in the data provided in the Summit
County death records.
Table 1A: Leading Causes of Death Among All Residents, Summit County, 2001-2012
Average
Average
Annual
Percent of
Annual
Cause of Death
Rank
Number of
Total Deaths Crude Death
Deaths
Rate*
Average
Annual AgeAdjusted
Death Rate*
Diseases of heart
1
1,316.2
24.5
242.9
194.4
Cancer
2
1,230.6
22.9
227.1
188.2
Chronic lower respiratory
diseases
3
341.1
6.3
63.0
51.6
Stroke
4
317.1
5.9
58.5
46.8
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
5
200.1
3.7
36.9
34.3
All Causes
---
5,380.2
100.0
993.1
815.7
Table 1B: Leading Causes of Death Among All Residents, United States, 20101,2
Annual
Annual
Percent of
Cause of Death
Rank
Number of
Crude Death
Total Deaths
Deaths
Rate*
Annual AgeAdjusted
Death Rate*
*per 100,000 population
Diseases of heart
1
597,689
24.2
193.6
179.1
Cancer
2
574,743
23.3
186.2
172.8
Chronic lower respiratory
diseases
3
138,080
5.6
44.7
42.2
Stroke
4
129,476
5.2
41.9
39.1
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
5
120,859
4.9
39.1
38.0
All Causes
---
2,468,435
100.0
799.5
747.0
*per 100,000 population
Table 2A: Leading Causes of Death Among Non-Hispanic White Residents, Summit County, 2001-2012
Average
Average
Average
Annual
Percent of
Annual
Annual AgeCause of Death
Rank
Number of
Total Deaths Crude Death
Adjusted
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Diseases of heart
1
1,165.3
24.9
270.0
194.2
Cancer
2
1,076.2
23.0
249.3
188.9
Chronic lower respiratory
diseases
3
312.0
6.7
72.3
53.4
Stroke
4
271.6
5.8
62.9
44.9
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
5
171.9
3.7
39.8
35.2
All Causes
---
4,685.8
100.0
1,085.6
807.9
*per 100,000 population
Table 2B: Leading Causes of Death Among Non-Hispanic White Residents, United States, 20101,2
Annual
Annual
Annual AgePercent of
Cause of Death
Rank
Number of
Crude Death
Adjusted
Total Deaths
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Diseases of heart
1
483.973
24.6
241.8
179.9
Cancer
2
460,567
23.4
230.1
176.5
Chronic lower respiratory
diseases
3
122,887
6.2
61.4
46.6
Stroke
4
101,849
5.2
50.9
37.8
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
5
94,420
4.8
47.2
42.4
All Causes
---
1,969,916
100.0
984.3
755.0
*per 100,000 population
Table 3A: Leading Causes of Death Among Non-Hispanic African American Residents, Summit County,
2001-2012
Average
Average
Average
Annual
Percent of
Annual
Annual AgeCause of Death
Rank
Number of
Total Deaths Crude Death
Adjusted
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Cancer
1
143.5
22.2
185.5
211.6
Diseases of heart
2
142.0
21.9
183.5
213.5
Stroke
3
42.6
6.6
55.0
64.9
Diabetes
4
28.8
4.5
37.3
42.9
Chronic lower respiratory
diseases
5
27.8
4.3
36.0
42.5
All Causes
---
647.8
100.0
837.2
958.5
*per 100,000 population
Table 3B: Leading Causes of Death Among Non-Hispanic African American Residents, United States,
20101,2
Annual
Annual
Annual AgePercent of
Cause of Death
Rank
Number of
Crude Death
Adjusted
Total Deaths
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Diseases of heart
1
68,215
24.1
173.0
229.5
Cancer
2
65,276
23.0
165.5
208.8
Stroke
3
15,833
5.6
40.1
54.3
Diabetes
4
11,996
4.2
30.4
39.6
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
5
11,853
4.2
30.1
32.4
All Causes
---
283,438
100.0
718.7
920.4
*per 100,000 population
Table 4A: Leading Causes of Death Among Non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander Residents, Summit
County, 2001-2012
Average
Average
Average
Annual
Percent of
Annual
Annual AgeCause of Death
Rank
Number of
Total Deaths Crude Death
Adjusted
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Cancer
1
5.7
25.6
47.9
78.3
Diseases of heart
2
4.5
20.3
38.0
100.3
Stroke
3
2.1
9.4
17.6
39.8
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
4
1.8
8.3
15.5
16.1
All Causes
---
22.2
100.0
187.2
380.9
*per 100,000 population
NOTE: Only the top 4 leading causes of death among Non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander residents
had at least 10 events. Causes with less than 10 events were not reported due to the instability of rates.
NOTE: Death data for Asian or Pacific Islander residents should be interpreted with caution because of
the misclassification of race on the death certificate.
Table 4B: Leading Causes of Death Among Asian or Pacific Islander Residents, United States, 20101,2
Annual
Annual
Annual AgePercent of
Cause of Death
Rank
Number of
Crude Death
Adjusted
Total Deaths
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Cancer
1
14,165
27.7
83.4
108.9
Diseases of heart
2
11,490
22.5
67.6
100.9
Stroke
3
3,833
7.5
22.6
33.2
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
4
2,144
4.2
12.6
15.0
Diabetes
5
1,838
3.6
10.8
15.5
All Causes
---
51,162
100.0
301.1
424.3
*per 100,000 population
NOTE: Death data for Asian or Pacific Islander residents should be interpreted with caution because of
the misclassification of race on the death certificate.
Table 5A: Leading Causes of Death Among Hispanic Residents, Summit County, 2001-2012
Average
Average
Average
Annual
Percent of
Annual
Annual AgeCause of Death
Rank
Number of
Total Deaths Crude Death
Adjusted
Deaths
Rate*
Death Rate*
Cancer
1
2.3
19.1
26.9
60.4
Diseases of heart
2
1.9
15.7
22.1
52.1
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
3
1.3
10.9
15.4
22.7
All Causes
---
12.3
100.0
141.5
294.3
*per 100,000 population
NOTE: Only the top 3 leading causes of death among Hispanic residents had at least 10 events. Causes
with less than 10 events were not reported due to the instability of rates.
NOTE: Death data for Hispanic residents should be interpreted with caution because of the
misclassification of ethnicity on the death certificate.
Table 5B: Leading Causes of Death Among Hispanic Residents, United States, 20101,2
Annual
Annual
Percent of
Cause of Death
Rank
Number of
Crude Death
Total Deaths
Deaths
Rate*
Annual AgeAdjusted
Death Rate*
Cancer
1
31,119
21.5
61.6
119.7
Diseases of heart
2
30,006
20.8
59.4
132.8
Accidents (unintentional
injuries)
3
10,476
7.3
20.8
25.8
Stroke
4
7,274
5.0
14.4
32.1
Diabetes
5
6,556
4.5
13.0
27.1
All Causes
---
144,490
100.0
286.2
558.6
*per 100,000 population
NOTE: Death data for Hispanic residents should be interpreted with caution because of the
misclassification of ethnicity on the death certificate.
----------------------------------------1
Heron M. Deaths: Leading causes for 2010. National vital statistics reports; vol 62 no 6. Hyattsville, MD:
National Center for Health Statistics. 2013.
2
Murphy SL, Xu J, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final data for 2010. National vital statistics reports; vol 61 no 4.
Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2013.
Summary
The leading causes of death in Summit County, Ohio are very similar to the leading cause of
death throughout the nation. Diseases of the heart, stroke, and cancer are among the
leading causes of death across all races. In order to improve the health status of residents in
Summit County, Ohio we must address each of these chronic diseases and illnesses. Health
projects and/ or initiatives in Summit County should focus educating, preventing and
managing the top five causes of death. Collaborative work among community partners
would be the ideal way to reduce the number of deaths related to the top five causes.
Community awareness campaigns around prevention and managing chronic disease and
illness is imperative in reducing the number of deaths.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2013). Stroke. Retrieved from
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/stroke.html
Murphy, L.S., Xu, J., & Kochanek, K.D. (2013). National vital statistics report. National Vital
Statistics System, 61 (4), 1-118.
Noymer, A., Penner, A.M., & Saperstein, A. (2011). Cause of death affects racial
classification on death certificates. PLoS ONE, 6(1), 1-3.
Summit County Public Health. (2001-2010). Death Data. Generated January 30, 2014 by
Summit County Public Health Office of Epidemiology
U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). American Fact Finder: Summit County, OH. Retrieved April 29,
2014 from http://factfinder2.census.gov