MORTALITY

Statistical Overview

There were 74,710 deaths of New Jersey residents in 2001 (Table M3).  This represents a 0.1 percent decrease from 2000.  The crude death rate was 877.8 per 100,000 population and the age-adjusted rate was 832.0 (Table M1 and Figure M1).  This represents a 2.4 percent decrease from 2000 and a 10.6 percent decrease from the rate in 1991 (Table M1).  The age-adjusted death rate for males was 41.1 percent higher than the rate for females and the age-adjusted death rate for blacks was 35.0 percent higher than the rate for whites in 2001 (Table M2 and Figure M2).  For persons born in New Jersey in 2001, preliminary average life expectancy was 77.6 years.  For females, it was 80.2 years and for males it was 74.9 years.  Life expectancy for whites was 78.2 years and 72.2 years for blacks (Table M12 and Figure M8). 

Causes of Death

The ten leading causes of death remained unchanged from those in 1998-2000:  heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic respiratory disease (CLRD), diabetes, unintentional injuries, influenza and pneumonia, septicemia, kidney disease, and Alzheimer's disease (Table M13).  These ten causes of death accounted for 79.4 percent of deaths in 2001 (Table M14).  The three leading causes of death among both sexes and all races (heart disease, cancer, and stroke) accounted for 60.1 percent of all deaths.  Chronic respiratory disease (CLRD) was the fourth leading cause of death for females and fifth for males.  Unintentional injury was tied with stroke as the third leading cause of death among males, while it was ninth among females (Table M21).  Because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (9/11), homicide was the seventh leading cause of death among males in 2001 (Table M21).  HIV disease was the fourth leading cause of death among blacks and the twentieth among whites (Table M22).  CLRD was the fourth leading cause of death among whites but the ninth leading cause among blacks (Table M22).  Because of 9/11, homicide rose from sixth leading cause of death in 2000 to second leading cause of death among residents 25-44 years old in 2001 (Tables M14, M18).

The age-adjusted death rate due to cancer was 7.9 percent lower in 2001 than it was in 1996.  Age-adjusted deaths rates for most cancer sites decreased over the time period (Table M24).  In 2001, trachea, lung, and bronchus remained the most common cancer mortality site, followed by cancer of the colon, rectum, and anus and cancer of the breast (Table M24).  Over 57 percent of cancer deaths occurred among those aged 65-84 (Table M25).  In 2001, male age-adjusted death rates were 73.0 percent higher for cancer of the trachea, lung, and bronchus and 33.2 percent higher for cancer of the colon, rectum, and anus than the respective rates for females (Tables M26-M27).  

Firearms caused 370 deaths in 2001.  Of those, 190 were homicides, 167 were suicides, 11 were accidental, and 2 were of undetermined intent (Table M32).  The age-adjusted firearm death rate among males was 10 times the rate among females and the rate among blacks was 3.7 times the white rate (Table M33).  Drug-related causes such as mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use, accidental overdoses, and intentional poisonings resulted in 796 deaths (Table M34).  Alcohol-related causes accounted for 493 deaths in 2001 (Table M35).  In 2001, the age-adjusted drug-related death rate among males was 2.8 times that of females and the age-adjusted alcohol-related death rate among males was 3.4 times the rate among females (Tables M34-M35).

This report contains a September 11, 2001 supplement based on deaths of New Jersey residents for whom a death certificate had been filed as of October 24, 2002.  It includes those who died at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, aboard the hijacked airplanes, and those who died later as a result of their injuries.  Terrorism deaths are included with homicides in the major cause groups used throughout this report.  Because of 9/11, fatal injuries at work rose from 89 in 2000 to 790 in 2001.  560 males and 121 females died at work on 9/11.  There were an additional 109 fatalities at work in 2001 that were not due to 9/11 (Table M36).  Over 80 percent of the New Jersey victims of 9/11 were under the age of 50 and 81.8 percent were male (Table M-S1).  Among New Jersey residents who died as a result of 9/11, 86.6 percent were white, 9.4 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.4 percent were Hispanic of any race, and 3.9 percent were black (Tables M-S2 - M-S3).  Of those who died, 72 percent were married, 21 percent were single, and 7 percent were divorced or widowed (Table M-S5).  On September 11, 2001, 672 New Jersey residents died in New York City, 17 in Pennsylvania, and 1 in Virginia (Table M-S7).  Two others died in New York City in the weeks following 9/11 (Table M-S7).  Over 50 percent of the New Jersey victims lived in Bergen, Hudson, and Monmouth Counties (Table M-S8).  Among New Jersey resident victims, 38 percent were born in New Jersey, 28 percent in New York, and 20 percent were born in other countries (Table M-S9).  The 2001 age-adjusted death rate due to terrorism was 7.9 per 100,000 population (Table M-S4).    

Infant, Fetal, and Maternal Mortality

The number and rate of infant deaths increased slightly from 2000 (Table M43).  The infant mortality rate among black non-Hispanics remained more than three times as high as the rate among white non-Hispanics (Table M44).  Two-thirds of infant deaths occurred in the neonatal period (within the first 27 days of life).  Infants who were part of a multiple birth were five times as likely to die within the first year of life as singletons.  Mortality was negatively related to birth weight and gestational age.  Infants whose mothers received no prenatal care were more than seven times as likely to die within the first year of life as those whose mothers received early prenatal care.  Infant mortality rates decreased with increasing maternal age until the 35-39 age group where rates rose again.  Infant mortality rates were more than twice as high for infants of unmarried mothers versus married mothers and for mothers who smoked during pregnancy versus mothers who did not smoke during pregnancy (Table M47).  More than 60 percent of infant deaths had a medical risk factor reported on their birth certificate.  Incompetent cervix and previous preterm or small-for-gestational-age infant were the most commonly reported medical risk factors among infant death records.  Of newborns whose mothers had an incompetent cervix, 7.4 percent died within the first year of life (Table M48).  Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, congenital malformations, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) were the three leading causes of infant deaths in 2001 (Table M49).

The fetal mortality rate and the number of fetal deaths increased from 2000 (Table M43).  As with infant deaths, plurality, low birth weight, short gestation, lack of prenatal care, unmarried mothers, and maternal smoking were each correlated with higher rates of fetal mortality (Table M50).  Fetal deaths were more prevalent than infant deaths among all age groups except the youngest (under 20) and the oldest (40-44) (Tables M47 and M50).  The fetal death rate among black non-Hispanics was nearly three times the rate for white and Asian and Pacific Islander non-Hispanics and twice the rate for Hispanics (Table M51).  Cord and placenta complications remained the leading cause of fetal deaths in 2001 (Table M52).

Technical Changes

The data in this report may differ from comparable data presented in pre-1999 reports in this series because of four major changes in the reporting and analysis of mortality data.  Nationwide, the classification of causes of death (ICD) changed in 1999 and a policy that the standard population used for age-adjustment be changed from the US 1940 population to the US 2000 projected population was also adopted in 1999.  In New Jersey, the underlying cause of death from the multiple cause of death (MCD) file compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) was used to produce the tables in this report as well as the 1999 and 2000 reports.  In pre-1999 reports, the underlying cause from the single cause of death (SCD) file compiled internally was used.  Additionally, previous reports of 1990-1999 mortality rates used population estimates based on the 1990 Census as denominators.  Rates in this report have been updated using intercensal population estimates, which are based on both the 1990 and 2000 Censuses.  Consequently, mortality rates for the 1990s will differ slightly from those presented in earlier reports.  Because of these four changes, assessment of trends in death data should be undertaken with caution.  Also, since Asian and Pacific Islander and Hispanic ethnicity reporting on death certificates in New Jersey and the rest of the country is known to be undermeasured, mortality data are presented separately for Asians and Pacific Islanders (Tables MA1-MA9) and for Hispanics (Tables MH1-MH9) in a supplemental section near the end of this chapter.  In Tables M1-M42, Asians and Pacific Islanders are included in the Other race group.  Since Hispanics can be of any race, Hispanic decedents are included in the race group indicated on their death certificates in Tables M1-M42.  For more detailed information on these changes, see New Jersey Health Statistics, 1999. 

The Technical Notes section contains information on sources of data, allocation of data by residence or occurrence, quality of data, racial and ethnic classification, definitions, rates and ratios, and cause of death rankings.