Preliminary evidence for an emerging nonmetropolitan mortality penalty in the United States.
We discovered an emerging non-metropolitan mortality penalty by contrasting 37 years of age-adjusted mortality rates for metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan US counties. During the 1980s, annual metropolitan-nonmetropolitan differences averaged 6.2 excess deaths per 100,000 nonmetropolitan population, or approximately 3600 excess deaths; however, by 2000 to 2004, the difference had increased more than 10 times to average 71.7 excess deaths, or approximately 35,000 excess deaths. We recommend that research be undertaken to evaluate and utilize our preliminary findings of an emerging US nonmetropolitan mortality penalty.
Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University, P.O. Box 5287, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. arthur.cosby@ssrc.msstate.edu
Arthur G
AG
Cosby
Tonya T
TT
Neaves
Ronald E
RE
Cossman
Jeralynn S
JS
Cossman
Wesley L
WL
James
Neal
N
Feierabend
David M
DM
Mirvis
Carol A
CA
Jones
Tracey
T
Farrigan
D006801:Humans; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D009309:National Center for Health Statistics, U.S.; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population