Changing to the 2000 standard million.

Abstract

We appreciated Krieger and Williams' discussion of changes that can be expected with the implementation of the new 2000 standard population for age-adjusting mortality data.1 We would like to address the authors' recommendation that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) “should either present ‘bridge’ data allowing comparisons of contemporary rates adjusted to the 1940 and 2000 standard or else should reissue older data readjusted to the 2000 standard”1(p 1213). In fact, NCHS implemented this recommendation concurrent with the first publication of 1999 mortality data.2 On June 26, 2001, a series of tables showing age-adjusted death rates using the 2000 standard population was published on the National Vital Statistics System mortality Web site (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/statab/unpubd/mortabs/hist-tabs.htm).These tables provide age-adjusted death rates for standard cause-of-death lists used by NCHS beginning with data for 1960 and for selected causes of death for each year from 1900 through 1959. In the future, more causes of death will be made available for the period 1900 through 1959. Each of these tables provides age-adjusted rates by sex and race. The categories of race for all years include “all races,” “white,” and “all other.” Beginning with tables for 1968, rates are also available for the Black population. The Web site also contains tables showing numbers of deaths, age-specific death rates, and other detailed mortality data. These tables provide the public health community with consistent long-term trends of causespecific, age-adjusted death rates and other resources with which to take analyses of mortality data beyond the summary measure, as Pamuk and others have recommended.3–5