266991 Potential gains in life expectancies from reductions in leading causes of death in Los Angeles County

Monday, October 29, 2012

Alex Ho, MD, MPH , Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County, Los Angles, CA
Heena Hameed, MPH , Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
Margaret Shih, MD, PhD , Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
Background: Despite overall gains in life expectancy at birth, significant disparities in life expectancy persist among racial/ethnic groups in Los Angeles County. This study was to quantify the theoretical race/ethnicity-specific gains in life expectancy from full or partial hypothetical elimination of leading causes of death.

Methods: Life tables were constructed applying the same method used for constructing U.S. Decennial Life Tables published by the National Center for Health Statistics in 1999. Using 2007 LAC mortality records, multiple-decrement life tables were constructed, and gender- and race/ethnicity- specific potential gains in life expectancy were computed using scenarios of 10%, 20%, 50%, and 100% elimination of leading causes of death.

Results: Coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in LAC, was found to exert the greatest impact on life expectancy. A complete elimination would result in life expectancy gains ranging from 2.4 years among White females to 3.3 years among White males. Elimination of lung cancer and stroke were found to have the second greatest impact with each bringing in around 1 year gain. Marked disparities in life expectancy gains were noted for the elimination of several other causes of death, noticeably for homicide, on which African-American males' gain would be exceeding 10 times more than that of their White counterparts.

Conclusions: Examining the impact of specific causes of death on life expectancy may be useful in formulating County-level health policies and informing allocation of public health resources. Decreasing mortality from specific causes, such as homicide, can help efficiently narrow racial/ethnic disparities in life expectancy.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Quantify the theoretical race/ethnicity-specific gains in life expectancy from full or partial hypothetical elimination of leading causes of death.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was formally trained as an Epidemiologist at UCLA, and have been involved in public health research with the Los Angeles County Public Health Department for over 3 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3281.1: Health Disparities Poster Session