Death rates for five of the 12 leading causes of death were up in 2016, according to Health, United States, 2017 – the 41st annual health of the nation report from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the President and Congress. But teenage cigarette smoking was down. Highlights:
- Life expectancy at birth decreased for the first time since 1993 by 0.2 years between 2014 and 2015, and then decreased another 0.1 years between 2015 and 2016.
- Between 2000 and 2016, death rates for five of the 12 leading causes of death increased: unintentional injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, suicide, chronic liver disease, and septicemia.
- The age-adjusted death rate for drug overdose in the U.S. increased 72% between 2006 and 2016 to 19.8 deaths per 100,000 population in 2016.
- Between 2006 and 2016, the age-adjusted suicide death rate increased 23%, from 11.0 to 13.5 deaths per 100,000 resident population
- Among men ages 25–34, death rates for chronic liver disease and cirrhosis increased by an average of 7.9% per year during 2006–2016. Among women in the same age group, this increase averaged 11.4% per year.
In addition to the focus on mortality, the Health, United States, 2017 Chartbook examines 10-year trends in a broad range of health measures, including:
- Between 2006 and 2016, the birth rate among teenagers ages 15–19 fell by half, from 41.1 to 20.3 live births per 1,000 females — a record low for the United States.
- The %age of high school students who smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days decreased from 15.8% in 2011 to 8.0% in 2016. High school students’ use of electronic cigarettes increased more than seven-fold, from 1.5% to 11.3%.
- In 2016, personal health care expenditures in the U.S. totaled $2.8 trillion — a 4.4 percentage increase from 2015.
SOURCE: U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Health, United States, 2017