title: Mortality from Suicide, Chronic Liver Disease, and Drug Poisonings among Middle-Aged U.S. White Men and Women, 1980-2013.
abstract: Recent increases in all-cause mortality rates among the middle-aged U.S. white population have been explained in terms of elevated levels of midlife distress. This brief report provides evidence against this explanation for recent mortality trends among U.S. white men and women. Official mortality rates for U.S. white men and women aged 45-54 from suicide, chronic liver disease, drug poisonings, and other "extrinsic" causes of death (i.e., causes external to the body) between 1980 and 2013 are examined. Results suggest that recent increases in extrinsic mortality among the middle-aged U.S. white population are overwhelmingly driven by rapid increases in drug-related mortality. The contributions of chronic liver disease and suicide to U.S. white men's and women's mortality levels have been fairly stable for the past 30 years. Further, large gender differences in extrinsic mortality trends are observed. These two findings are inconsistent with the explanation that distress among the middle-aged U.S. white population is a common cause driving trends in U.S. white mortality.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.|b Population Program , Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.
authors.forename: Ryan K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Masters
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.|b Population Program , Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tilstra
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology , University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.|b Population Program , Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Simon
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000401:mortality*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States