. "2 Racial and Ethnic Differences in Mortality at Older Ages." Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1997.
The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
TABLE 2-1 Death Rates Based on Vital Statistics and Census Data: Whites, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics, 1989
Death Rates (per 1,000)
Ratios
Age Group
Whites
African Americans
Asian/Pacific Islanders
Hispanics
African-
Americans to White Rates
Asian/Pacific Islanders to White Rates
Hispanic to White Rates
Males
45-49
4.41
10.82
2.35
4.89
2.45
0.53
1.11
50-54
6.96
15.92
3.69
6.56
2.29
0.53
0.94
55-59
11.63
22.63
6.10
9.23
1.95
0.52
0.79
60-64
18.46
31.86
10.55
14.30
1.73
0.57
0.77
65-69
27.97
44.94
15.33
20.54
1.61
0.55
0.73
70-74
43.27
60.40
25.28
32.01
1.40
0.58
0.74
75-79
65.97
81.83
42.29
47.91
1.24
0.64
0.73
80-84
102.57
109.82
70.47
71.95
1.07
0.69
0.70
85-89
152.97
148.70
121.50
108.20
0.97
0.67
0.71
90-94
240.73
201.59
—
160.76
0.84
—
0.63
95+
310.51
233.67
—
—
0.75
—
—
Females
45-49
2.36
5.19
1.37
1.92
2.20
0.58
0.81
50-54
3.99
7.85
2.55
3.12
1.97
0.64
0.78
55-59
6.50
11.75
3.99
4.92
1.81
0.61
0.76
60-64
10.15
17.98
5.45
7.75
1.77
0.54
0.76
65-69
15.48
25.21
8.64
12.12
1.63
0.56
0.78
70-74
24.28
34.83
13.33
18.32
1.43
0.55
0.75
75-79
38.46
50.72
22.90
28.03
1.32
0.60
0.73
80-84
64.56
73.33
42.90
47.67
1.14
0.66
0.74
85-89
108.88
110.05
101.44
79.53
1.01
0.70
0.73
90-94
189.08
159.18
—
153.25
0.84
—
0.72
95+
288.03
231.88
—
—
0.80
—
—
Note: For Asians and Pacific Islanders, the final, open-ended age interval begins at age 85+; for Hispanics at age 90+. The ratios to white rates for the open-ended interval are based on comparable rates for whites.
SOURCE: Based on data from National Center for Health Statistics, 1993; Hollman, 1993; 1989 NCHS Mortality Detailed Data Tape.
are obtained in a conventional manner, using 1989 deaths from vital statistics in the numerator (National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS], 1993) and the Census Bureau's estimates of population on July 1, 1989, in the denominator (Hollman, 1993).1 The crossover to lower African-American mortality occurs in the age interval 85 to 89 for males and 90 to 94 for females. At younger ages,
1
Census estimates are based on a reconciliation of cohort counts in the 1980 and 1990 censuses, with the addition of information from Medicare at older ages. Typical patterns of census undercounts by age, sex, and race are preserved in the estimates. Because population estimates are presented in thousands, we choose the final open-ended interval for African Americans and whites to be age 95 and older and to be lower for other groups.
