Sex differences in COPD and lung cancer mortality trends--United States, 1968-1999.
OBJECTIVE
Cigarette smoking by U.S. women in the 1940s and 1950s caused large increases in smoking-related lung disease among women. To determine the magnitude of these increases, we compared the mortality trends for males and females in the United States for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer for 1968-1999.


METHODS
We used the national mortality data files compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC and U.S. census data to calculate age-adjusted (2000) death rates for COPD, lung cancer, and all causes.


RESULTS
COPD death rate for females increased by 382% from 1968 through 1999, whereas for males it increased by 27% during the same period. As a result, the COPD death rate for U.S. females is approaching that for males. The lung cancer death rate for females increased by 266% from 1968 to 1999, whereas for males, it increased by 15%.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians, women, and groups interested in women's health issues need to be aware of these trends and target prevention strategies toward females.
Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. ngk2@cdc.gov
Neely
N
Kazerouni
C J
CJ
Alverson
Stephen C
SC
Redd
Joshua A
JA
Mott
David M
DM
Mannino
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health