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. 2011 Apr;101(4):720-9.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.195537.

Excess black mortality in the United States and in selected black and white high-poverty areas, 1980-2000

Arline T Geronimus  1 , John Bound, Cynthia G Colen
Affiliations

Excess black mortality in the United States and in selected black and white high-poverty areas, 1980-2000

Arline T Geronimus et al. Am J Public Health. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

Objectives: Black working-aged residents of urban high-poverty areas suffered severe excess mortality in 1980 and 1990. Our goal in this study was to determine whether this trend persisted in 2000.

Methods: We analyzed death certificate and census data to estimate age-standardized all-cause and cause-specific mortality among 16- to 64-year-old Blacks and Whites nationwide and in selected urban and rural high-poverty areas.

Results: Urban men's mortality rate estimates peaked in 1990 and declined between 1990 and 2000 back to or below 1980 levels. Evidence of excess mortality declines among urban or rural women and among rural men was modest, with some increases. Between 1980 and 2000, there was little decline in chronic disease mortality among men and women in most areas, and in some instances there were increases.

Conclusions: In 2000, despite improved economic conditions, working-age residents of the study areas still died disproportionately of early onset of chronic disease, suggesting an entrenched burden of disease and unmet health care needs. The lack of consistent improvement in death rates among working-age residents of high-poverty areas since 1980 necessitates reflection and concerted action given that sustainable progress has been elusive for this age group.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Mortality measures for US Black and White men nationally and in selected high-poverty populations, by decade, 1980, 1990, and 2000. Note. See the Appendix, available as a supplement to the online version of this article at http://www.ajph.org for a listing of the neighborhoods that were included in the different study areas.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Mortality measures for US Black and White women nationally and in selected high-poverty populations, by decade, 1980, 1990, and 2000. Note. See the Appendix, available as a supplement to the online version of this article at http://www.ajph.org.org for a listing of the neighborhoods that were included in the different study areas.
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References

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