Definition

Deaths due to underlying causes of death eligible to be ranked as leading causes of death based on National Center for Health Statistics standards

Numerator

Number of deaths due to a particular underlying cause

Denominator

Percent: Total number of deaths due to all causes; Rate: Number of persons in the population

Why Is This Important?

Analysis of mortality by cause is essential for the development of prevention strategies.

How Are We Doing?

The ten leading causes of death in New Jersey remained the same in 2017 as in 2016. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, New Jersey, and each NJ county, except Hunterdon and Salem. Cancer is the second leading cause of death. Together, these two causes of death account for nearly half of all deaths each year. Unintentional injury, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRD), Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, septicemia (sepsis), kidney disease, and influenza/pneumonia round out the remainder of the ten leading causes of death for New Jersey in 2016 and in 2017. For each year of 2009-2014, the leading causes of death had been, in order, heart disease, cancer, stroke, CLRD, unintentional injury, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, septicemia (sepsis), kidney disease, and influenza/pneumonia. In 2015, fueled by the opioid overdose epidemic, unintentional injury replaced CLRD as the fourth leading cause of death. Alzheimer's disease and septicemia overtook diabetes in positions 6 through 8. In 2016, unintentional injury replaced stroke as the third leading cause of death and diabetes switched places with septicemia to become the seventh leading cause of death. [https://www-doh.state.nj.us/doh-shad/view/sharedstatic/LCODtable.pdf Table of leading causes of death for each year, 2000-2017]

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the US, but is 14th in New Jersey. New Jersey's 8th leading cause of death, septicemia, was 12th in the US in 2017. The other leading causes of death are in the Top 10 in both New Jersey and the US. The age-adjusted death rates in 2017 for New Jersey's ten leading causes of death are lower than those of the U.S. for each cause except septicemia and kidney disease.

Health Status Outcomes

There are also indicator profiles for leading causes of death by age, race/ethnicity, and gender. These are accessible on the [https://www-doh.state.nj.us/doh-shad/topic/Mortality.html Mortality and Leading Causes of Death] page.

Data Source

Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

Data Notes

In the data table, #1 = leading cause of death and #2 = 2nd leading cause of death.

References and Community Resources

U.S. Statistics, Data, and Related Documentation are available from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics on these websites: National Vital Statistics System: [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss.htm] Mortality Data: [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm] Datasets and Related Documentation for Mortality Data: [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_methods.htm] Instruction Manuals: [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/instruction_manuals.htm]