The probability of death among people aged 20 to 55 in Kentucky, Oklahoma, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wyoming has increased by more than 10 percent, a new study finds.
The research suggests 21 states have reflected a surge in the probability of death for this age group from 1990 to 2016. The aforesaid five states, however, have the highest percentage. The prevalent causes of death are from complications of drug and alcohol abuse, obesity, poor diet, and high fasting plasma glucose.
On the contrary, researchers of the study found a decrease in the probability of death among this demographic in 31 states over the same period. Of 31 states, 15 have shown more than 10 percent decline.
States of New York and California have the most significant fall in premature deaths of 20 to 55-year-olds. Other states include New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Connecticut, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Washington, and South Carolina. The decline in deaths is attributed to reduced HIV/AIDS cases, fewer road injuries, as well as neoplasms.
The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, examined 333 causes and 84 health risk factors to determine drivers of mortality and morbidity in the United States.
The researchers synthesized the data from Global Burden of Disease analysis. The GBD is a program that is spearheaded by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Life Expectancy Report Significant To Future Health Care Policies
The study highlights two factors that can be instrumental in designing national health priorities for clinical care and policy. One is that uptrend in the deaths of 20 to 55-year-old Americans had already been observed in the past along with other health risk factors.
"These increases started in the late 90's, in about 1998 and for almost 20 years we've been seeing in those communities in those age groups rising death rates," says Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray, corresponding author of the study. He is also from the IHME.
Second is that the causes of morbidity and mortality vary from state to state. It means that public health policy requires careful tailoring depending on what a state particularly needs.
Life Expectancy Is Highest In These 5 States
The study also comes with good news for five states with the highest life expectancy at birth. These states are Hawaii at 81.3 years of life, California at 80.9 years, Connecticut at 80.8 years, Minnesota at 80.8 years and New York at 80.5 years.
