Health Outcome HO.7 Leading causes of death by age-adjusted death rates per 100,000

Leading causes of death by age-adjusted death rate (per 100,000), San Francisco, 2004-2007 and 2000-2003
Male Female
2004-2007 2000-2003 2004-2007 2000-2003
Rank Cause Deaths Rate LCI UCI Rank Deaths Rate Rank Cause Deaths Rate LCI UCI Rank Deaths Rate
1 Ischemic heart dis.  2,023 128.8 123.2 134.6 1 2,455 174.1 1 Ischemic heart dis.  1,938 79.1 75.5 82.9 1 2,360 103.7
2 Lung, bronchus, trachea cancers 813 51 47.6 54.7 3 801 54.6 2 Cerebrovascular dis.   1,007 42.3 39.7 45.2 2 1,305 57.9
3 Cerebrovascular dis.   682 43.9 40.7 47.4 2 910 65 3 Lung, bronchus, trachea cancers 600 29.3 26.9 31.9 3 612 31.4
4 Chronic obstructive pulmonary dis. 541 34.7 31.8 37.8 4 577 40.5 4 Alzheimer, other dementias  793 29.2 27.2 31.5 6 623 25
5 Hypertensive heart dis.  529 32.8 30.1 35.8 5 592 40.3 5 Hypertensive heart dis.  518 22.2 20.3 24.3 4 600 27.9
6 Lower respiratory inf.  482 31.2 28.5 34.2 6 533 39 6 Lower respiratory inf.  511 20 18.3 22 5 614 26.1
7 HIV/AIDS    519 27.6 25.2 30.2 7 668 37.5 7 Breast Cancer   383 19.5 17.6 21.7 7 412 22.4
8 Alzheimer, other dementias  391 25.8 23.3 28.6 10 240 18.5 8 Chronic obstructive pulmonary dis. 356 15.6 14 17.5 8 472 22.1
9 Colon, rectum cancers  298 18.8 16.7 21.1 9 297 20.3 9 Colon, rectum cancers  279 12.5 11 14.2 9 303 14.7
10 Drug overdose, unintentional  357 18.8 16.9 21 13 311 17.2 10 Diabetes mellitus   244 11.1 9.7 12.7 10 281 13.8
11 Violence/assault, all mech.  255 17.7 15.4 20.3 19 183 11.9 11 Pancreas cancer   199 9.6 8.3 11.2 11 193 9.8
12 Self-inflicted injuries, all mech. 304 16.8 14.9 19 14 289 16.6 12 Lymphomas, mult. myeloma  162 7.7 6.5 9.1 12 173 8.6
13 Prostate cancer   244 15.8 13.9 18 8 283 20.5 13 Ovary cancer   139 7 5.9 8.4 13 125 6.8
14 Diabetes mellitus   247 15.3 13.5 17.4 12 257 17.3 14 Drug overdose, unintentional  112 6.6 5.4 8.1 19 79 5
15 Liver cancer   249 15.2 13.4 17.3 11 267 17.4 15 Liver cancer   129 6.4 5.4 7.8 14 115 6
Sources: CA. Dept. of Health Services, death master statistical file; CA Dept. of Finance, population projections. Deaths are San Francisco resident deaths. Rates are per 100,000 population.             
Age-adjusted rates are age-adjusted to standard US 2000 population.            
LCI, UCI: Lower and upper 95% exact confidence intervals (CI), calculated for categories with 20 or more deaths.

Data Source

Data are compiled by Building a Healthier San Francisco - Mortality Analysis Report 2010.  Available at Health Matters in San Francisco, www.healthmattersinsf.org.

Explanation and Limitations

Age-adjusted rates are adjusted for differences in the age structures of populations or population groups, and so are well suited for comparing the overall force of mortality across different populations or within a population over time. Such comparisons are valid as long as they are all calculated by adjusting to the same standard population. Rates here are adjusted to the United States 2000 standard population, using the age categories of the Global Burden of Disease tables. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) suggests not using these rates for ranking, because they are subject to the weighting of the standard population.