■IB 1366 ./V7.fc>S DuBLfivf Louis T ^Vfl(LTD£S HO P0lER\CANr TUjo rta u it y ^fto^orK iqi(,\ B 1355 N7 D8 opy 1 FACTORS IN AMERICAN MORTALITY A STUDY OF DEATH RATES IN THE RACE STOCKS OF NEW YORK STATE, 1910 Reprinted from the American Economic Review, Vol. VI, No. 3, September, 1916, published by the American Economic Association, Ithaca, N. Y. BY LOUIS I. DUBLIN, Ph.D., Statistician Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York 1916 - FACTORS IN AMERICAN MORTALITY A STUDY OF DEATH RATES IN THE RACE STOCKS OF NEW YORK STATE, 1910 1 In an address delivered before this section a year ago, entitled "The Trend of American Vitality," I ventured to point out that the character of our immigration during the last twenty years was a factor in the increasing mortality of the higher age groups. To summarize the argument, it was shown that immigration played a very large part in the growth of population in the states com- posing the registration area ; that the foreign countries from which our immigrants come show uniformly a higher mortality rate than that prevailing in the United States ; and that in the state of New York, in 1910, the mortality of the native born was, as a whole, considerably lower than that of the foreign born. This was found to be true for both sexes, and especially at the adult and higher ages. Brief reference was finally made to the rates from the principal causes of death which apparently ac- counted for these differences. The data then at hand were limited, but were nevertheless sufficient to show that the effect of the mortality of the foreign born on that of the total population was not altogether favorable, and that it was highly desirable to get more evidence on this subject. In this paper, I propose to carry the analysis further, and to present the added evidence which has been gathered. I shall submit the mortality figures fo>- the state of New York to an examination to show the facts for each of the important race stocks, and shall attempt to evaluate the various racial elements as factors in the general mortality. Consideration will be given to the important items of sex, age, and causes of death. We shall incidentally obtain a picture of the effect of life in America on the various foreign born peoples. We shall also learn, espe cially from the consideration of the diseases which cause death, where most effort in public health work should in future be directed. I present for your consideration a table and two graphs giv- 1 Read before Section I, Social and Economic Science, American Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science, December B9, 1915. ing the mortality rates in the state of New York, for the year 1910, of the following three classes of the white population: a. The native born of native parentage; b. The native born of foreign or mixed parentage; c. The foreign born. Table 1. — Deaths per 1,000 white population among native born of native parentage, among native born of foreign or mixed parentage, and among foreign born, by sex and by age period: New York state, 1910. MALES FEMALES Age period Native born of native Native born of foreign or mixed For- eign born Native born of native Native born of foreign or mixed For- eign born parentage parentage parentage parentage All ages : Crude rate 15.9 18.7 17.2 13.9 14.7 16.3 Ages 10 and over: Crude rate 13.8 13.2 17.5 12.4 9.7 16.6 Standardized rate 13.8 17.2 17.1 12.4 13.9 16.2 Under 10 23.5 31.0 8.4 19.6 27.0 8.2 10-14 2.5 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.1 2.4 15-19 3.6 4.1 4.4 3.2 3.2 3.2 20-24 5.0 6.8 5.2 4.7 5.2 4.0 26-44 6.9 14.3 8.7 5.7 9.3 7.3 45-64 18.8 28.2 •28.0 14.3 20.0 23.4 65-84 77.3 89.9 90.4 68.2 73.9 87.7 85 and over 268.9 323.0 272.7 242.3 324.9 270.5 A number of observations must be made with reference to Table 1, before a comparison of the figures for the three nativity groups can safely be made. In the group "under age 10" a very low mortality rate appears for the foreign born males and females. The figures are, however, entirely inadequate as measures of the mortality among the foreign born in this age period. The heaviest mortality in the period "under 10" is in the first year of life, at which age there is virtually no foreign born population. In fact, there is only a very small foreign born representation in the entire period under 5. The death rate "under 10" is practically a rate for the period 3-9 for the foreign born. The extremely low figure for the period "under 10" is thus explained, and its incomparability with the other rates is established. The 5 Graph I Mortality in. New York Classified by Nati vitjy 5 . S 1 IF- ■ % / . / 1 j fepaUti**! N«t,.«bwn »f n«t'«« fO'Onti N»T,»e bom .« /; • \ J*< ■— - 55 . is .'« . «• . 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Si. 03 03 13 "o m . S"c3 03 Rates per 100000 h*< O00N«OQ0O^00 06 ^eoc-i©u3coco'co r- 1 I— 1 T-H ^H f-H 1— IH«3 r-< NWH^lHOOO . , CM' CO •>*' iC © CO i© lO CO O CM CM CM i-H Hfl kO • • rH CO rfl 03 03 Q CM rHrHrHOSCO.~5COCM 10 CM i-H tj< t- CM CO i* CM O co eo *o co co co cm ' ' tO i-h rH i-H . . CO XJ tf ■S.8 PQT3 * 8,8 P3 ^o CO -co • O ■<*< OS OS os •>* . t~." .COHNNH IO HMNOO 65.3 10.0 6.8 39.5 211.5 549.8 4761.9 CO XI 03 03 Q \Q ' 1— 1 'ffllOHHH U3 . . •«*< I- CO CM CM CM CM O O CO CM CO CO CA I-H .2 '3 o S a 03 c Ph «> © ■P 0)O S3 Q.O P5 © ■*« lO 00 t» O N >o Oi . •0 Tjir^i-Hcd'O'Hjico 10 «o ec t~ 00 co os os • i-H CO CO rH CO T«Tj1rHt~lOr~^(«CO lO rHCMOf-rHCOOSCO h*< OScO'O'OOOlOCMCO • rH CO CM •"* OS i-H CO • Xi 03 03 Q 00 ■*iOOOHN(NO ' eo -^ i-H -* CM CO i»l . H* i-H rH CM CO^Ot-COCMCMiO ' CM 00 0) to O S3 .™ 03 C <« o 5 0) XI a> O 03 fc, O - 03 2 Ph O »o ,N00 00(NO0H!O OS NlOOriOMld t— 'NHHTfUJO 1 " CM CO CM rH CM OS USCOrHOS-^ICOeOCO , •^ COOOOOOCOOSOO CO ftOiOONiflO r-, CO CO OS rH CO • XJ 03 Q t- ' W^iOClWOM CM O © U3 CM rH CM rHCOCO'OCOCDO'O lO rH lO O CO CM r-i co co o c 3.3 o i. 03 3«H H o 03 ., O -£ &2 M 2 ■h coHoo^ooo • CM CO lO CO © -M CM 00 . rH HO^ONO rH rH rH rH rH CM . rH ©rHcor-eoeoTtft-- ■ O •■* OS C> t~- Os' 00 >0 CO . CO COCOCM-^iCCMUSOS rH CM CS rH rH t^ •2 03 Q © HINt-iOWHX ■ CM CM CO -— ' CM Ht-lON(S»OJM OS co CM ^6 CO co" OS •** © r-{ rH CO CM t~- l~-H3<0'*'rJ1t~-OSt^COCMO •*l OCMCMCOrHOCCrHCO t- t'COSJ'^OMWHH lO IMMUJtDMHCC «0 rnCMOSOSOCOCO 00 rH rH CM •* ■*< i*l CO i-HrHi-HIMCOCM CM rH rH 03 bfl "^ T3 O 33 03 03 02 Males All ages Under 10 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-44 45-64 65-84 85 and over Females All ages Under 10 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-44 45-64 65-84 85 and over Unknown i6 rates are particularly high among males. Thus at ages "20-24" there was a death rate from these causes of 170.6 per 100,000, while the corresponding figure for natives was only 96.9. Germans Foreign born Germans do not now constitute as large a part of the foreign born population of New York state as they did in the decade beginning 1880, when the high water mark of German immigration was reached. The Germans, however, still form one of the most numerous groups of the foreign born in New York state. This is especially true at the higher ages of life. In 1910 they were represented by 436,874 persons, con- stituting 16.0 per cent of the foreign born whites and 4.9 per cent of the total white population. The mortality rates of Germans in their native country have been among the more favorable ones in Europe. In the last two decades the rates for the German Empire have shown very satisfactory improvement. It is, therefore, very surprising to find that in New York state the mortality of persons of German birth is fairly high, as is shown in the following table: Table 7. — Deaths per 1,000 white population among persons born in Germany, and among native born of native parentage, by sex and by age period: New York state, 1910. MALES FEMALES Native Native born of German born of German Age period native parentage born native parentage born AH ages: Crude rate 15.9 27.5 13.9 22.6 Ages 10 and over: Crude rate 13.8 27.7 12.4 22.8 Standardized rate 13.8 17.9 12.4 14.4 Under 10 23.5 12.7 19.6 10.3 10-14 2.5 5.8 2.6 1.6 15-19 3.6 3.4 3.2 2.7 20-24 5.0 4.5 4.7 4.0 25-44 6.9 10.0 5.7 6.3 45-64 18.8 27.7 14.3 18.4 65-84 77.3 90.4 68.2 83.1 85 and over 268.9 263.4 242.3 246.4 We must at the outset remark that the rates for the Germans in the first three age periods, as presented, have no particular merit, because of the small number of persons exposed. After f «*, | *5 « fe5 « i- w ■a o * a e C£> a &) E B 5- ft Gj -O "W a ST • e co CD '§ '5 Rates per 100000 OS C5 • • t~ CO CO ^ rH CO CO — ' t>^ CD WiOTOTOH rH rH CO CN CM' IM WcOOHjqos »HCO Nco'6 rH CO rH CM CO 00 a CD P o . . CM ■* OS CM OS CO ■^ i — 1 CO rH •* rH O O rH rH CM rH co *» CO M CD 'E .22 cq^3 « 2 05 . TO t- CN CXI 1< h- t- ■* t)1 "o ■*' CO O 00 CO 7-1 -& CO "*< CM rH 00 t- CM -a S3 CD P ■•* co " iO io cocsaco 00 CM CM rH CM CM ■* CO CO CM CM CO rH CO ■<*< CO O "O CO rH CM CO ® .— o> C _co C3 ^ ^ -a cd CO © "S ® 2 P3 ^ CO -o O CO HHCNrticoNr- CO <-h CO iO CM vO CD cj s S3 o <° 2 "S ^ 2 3 &>2 P3 o CM . . CM CM . . '■* CO COCO Tfl 05 CO CO "M t- t— CO CM CM • -^ CM t^ 00 <35 . rH CO' CO CM' y-i CO CO t— 00 CO t^ CO CD P o o . . ■ t- 00 00 t>- . CO Tf O CM CM o CO id 7—1 ' C75 CO CO rH . CD •* CO rH CM CM CO "co O c/j a § cl) rH _D Ct_i 3 O H « 2 13 ® 2 3 o-2 03 o ■* CO cc t-^ CM C CO lOff CM onoont- «0 CM' O rH O ^ lO 'O tH H CO CO CM * rH CM S3 P-.2 o *-• Ph r-< H ■* CO 00 T)l CO CM (S N CO CO ■* M O CO ^ CD CO CO CO Osa5©ast~eOOS-**CN t-l COCOCtCDCSHTtlH rH C0CO-"*00-*rHCCO5rH t- OSOOCNCOt-CCrHCMrH O HH'tOHlOCO 7-1 HHtOH^IcOOH CM rH OS 00 CM T-t HCOt-CO CM CM CD bfl S3 03 J; CD CD 72 O CO 1—t U ® r > 5 o B ^ ^ ^ ^ r« t 1 CM -* CO CO a* ^ L i 1 i e oujioio toi- < CM CM ■* CO 00 r- - 2 CO CD ) r- o B 05 ■<* Tt( Tj< ^ c C rH CM ^H CD 00 S JK 1 1 1 1 1 ro C cS O "O iO cO "3 i- rH CM CM •«*! CO 00 r- i8 the age period "20-24" the figures are very ample, and may be considered entirely reliable. Beginning, then, with ages "25-4*4," we find that the rate for German males is very much higher than for the native born of native parentage, and this condition con- tinues until the conclusion of the age period "65-84." The last age period, "85 and over," shows a slightly better rate than that for the native born of native parentage. In like manner, the females, beginning with the period "25-44," show higher rates than the native born of native parentage at every age period to the end of life. Considering together ages 10 and over, the crude rate is 27.7 for males and 22.8 for females ; but when standardized as above outlined, the rates for the two sexes are reduced to 17.9 and 14.4, respectively. These are both distinctly higher than the rates for the native born of native parentage, the excess being more marked for males than for females. In seeking to determine the causes for this high mortality (Table 8) we find that the pulmonary affections are to a large degree responsible; the degenerative diseases also play an im- portant part. In view of the limitations of the material which have already been pointed out, and in view of the fact that most of the diseases in question have no considerable incidence before the attainment of maturity, we have concerned ourselves for the most part only with ages 25 and over. At almost every age, the pulmonary tuberculosis rates of German males are greatly in excess of those of native Americans ; for example, at ages "45-64" there is mortality of 350.0 per 100,000 among Ger- mans from this cause, while the rate is only 262.1 among natives. The position of the women with regard to pulmonary tuberculosis is favorable throughout practically the whole of life. In virtually every age class pneumonia has a higher death rate among Ger- man males than among the native born ; the same is true for females. Sometimes the differences are very marked, particularly in the case of men; thus at ages "45-64" males of German birth have a pneumonia rate of 269.0 per 100,000, while the corre- sponding rate for native Americans is only 189.6. German males have a higher mortality from heart disease from age 25 upwards ; the same is, in general, true of women, although they have a slight advantage over natives at ages "25-44." In the age period "45-64" German males have a death rate of 328.9 from heart disease, whereas that of the native born is only 316.3; the corre- sponding figures for the female sex are 288.5 for Germans and 19 247.1 for Americans. With respect to Bright's disease, German males are consistently at a disadvantage throughout all the significant age groups; the same is true of females beginning at age 45. Thus at ages "45-64" the mortality of German males from this cause is 332.4 per 100,000; the corresponding mor- tality for native Americans is 267.2. In the next age class the mortality of Germans is 1306.7, while that of natives is only 952.2. Cancer is more frequent at ages "25-84" among German men, and at ages 25-64 among German women. The differences are strikingly large among males ; at ages "45-64," for example, the mortality of German men is 291.3 per 100,000, while that of natives is only 150.0. Suicide is also important; at ages 45-64 it accounts for 131.6 deaths per 100,000 German males, but for only 98.0 among natives. A high suicide rate among persons born in Germany has been pointed out by a number of observers. Irish Irish immigration into the United States attained its highest point as far back as 1851, but it has not ceased to be an im- portant factor in our immigration since that date. In 1910 there were 367,877 persons of Irish birth in the state of New York; they formed 13.5 per cent of the total foreign born and 4.1 per cent of the total white population of the state. In their own country the mortality rates of the Irish are higher than those of the English, especially for females, but they compare favorably, nevertheless, with those of other races of western Europe. In New York state, however, a surprisingly high mortality for the Irish appears to exist. This is shown in Table 9. We may again eliminate from serious consideration all age periods below ages "20-24," because of the absence of Irish immi- grants at the younger ages. Beginning with the period of "20- 24," the males show a mortality almost twice that of the native born of native parentage. The rate is nearly three times as great in the next age period, "25-44," and continues to be in considerable excess throughout the rest of life, although the difference is not so marked in the period after 85. Females in the first period, "20-24," show no untoward condition. Begin- ning with "25-44," the rate is more than double that of the native 20 Table 9. — Deaths per 1,000 white population among persons born in Ireland and among native born of native parentage, by sex and by age period: New York state, 1910. MALES FEMALES Native Native born of Irish born of Irish Age period native parentage born native parentage born All ages : Crude rate 15.9 40.2 13.9 34.8 Ages 10 and over: Crude rate 13.8 40.3 12.4 34.9 Standardized rate 13.8 25.9 12.4 23.5 Under 10 23.5 16.8 19.6 10.4 10-14 2.5 2.6 5.1 15-19 3.6 8.1 3.2 3.9 20-24 5.0 9.4 4.7 4.1 25-44 6.9 18.5 5.7 12.0 45-64 18.8 46.3 14.3 40.7 65-84 77.3 101.6 68.2 107.4 85 and over 268.9 286.1 242.3 307.6 born of native parentage, and this very unfavorable mortality is maintained throughout the remaining age periods of life. Ages 10 and over, taken together, present a crude rate of 40.3 for the males and 34.9 for the females. These, when standardized for age periods, are reduced to 25.9 and 23.5 for the respective sexes. The rates are close to twice as high as those of the native born of native parentage. We may infer from the above figures that both male and female Irish born persons living in New York state show mortality rates which are much in excess of the corresponding figures for their own country; indeed, their mor- tality is not far from twice that recorded by the Registrar General of Ireland for similar age periods. An examination of the causes for these very unfavorable con- ditions (Table 10) shows, in exaggerated form, a situation not unlike that determined for the German born population of the state. Tuberculosis and pneumonia, as also the degenerative diseases, play a prominent part. With regard to tuberculosis, the Irish born population of both sexes are at almost every age under a disadvantage even greater than that of the Germans. At ages "25-44," for example, there is a mortality from this cause of 662.9 among Irish born males, and of only 352.0 among natives ; in the female sex the corresponding figures are 353.4 and 193.3. In both sexes and at all ages, pneumonia has a higher death rate 21 among the Irish born. The differences are again very large. At ages "25-44," for example, there is a rate of 211.2 per 100,000 among Irish born, but of only 92.1 per 100,000 among native Americans. Irish females in the same age class have a mortality of 110.0, while natives have a rate of only 54.2. Heart disease is strikingly high throughout all the significant age periods in both sexes. Thus at ages "45-64," where the mortality of native females is 247.1 per 100,000, that of the Irish born is more than twice as high — 656.4. In practically every age period, and among both males and females, the same situation obtains with respect to Bright's disease and apoplexy and paralysis. In all ages up to age 84 Irish born males succumb to accidents in large numbers; at ages "25-44," for example, the death rate for this cause among males — 263.7 — was over twice as high as that of native Americans — 103.0. The above figures for both the German and the Irish strains in New York state help to explain some of the surprising condi- tions which we found in our discussion of the general death rates in Table 1. Thus, it will be remembered that, at ages "25- 44," the native born males of foreign or mixed parentage — that is, first generation Americans — showed a death rate of 14.3 per thousand, while the mortality of the native born males of native parentage was only 6.9, and that of the foreign born males was only 8.7. The German and Irish are the predominating races included in the native born of foreign or mixed parentage in this age period, and it is doubtless their influence that accounts for this high mortality. The foreign born of the same age period, on the other hand, now largely composed of Russian Jews and Italians, present, as we have seen, much more favorable conditions. Austro -Hungarians Austro-Hungarian immigration into New York state is com- paratively recent, having become appreciable only since 1890. Recently, the number of those coming from this country has in- creased by leaps and bounds, and in the last few years they have represented one of the most numerous components of our immigration. In 1910 there were 341,846 Austro-Hungarians, who constituted 12.5 per cent of the foreign born whites and 3.8 per cent of the total white population. e .2 1 CD §■§ * CO ■* © CO . lO u3 ,«NONNN . lO © -* CO 00 rH CO' l-^ U5 OS CO rH r-i ■* CD CD O ■«* 'NU3NNO10 • Oi CM • CM rH CO © © CO • COrHi— ICNCNCO'HCO rH HMOS •3 «s CD R «3 rH . CM "* rH t)< © CO . 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This is true for both sexes and for virtually every age period, but is marked at the adult ages. The foreign born and their native born offspring agree much more closely with each other than they do with the native born of native parentage. There are marked variations, to be sure, in the several age periods and in the two sexes, but the first generation Americans and the foreign stock from which they have arisen show unmistakably their close connection. The death rates of the component races among the foreign born present very marked variations. Remarkably low rates are found among the Russians, and this is largely accounted for by the presence of a large proportion of Jews among them. The Italians follow very closely with exceptionally low rates of mortality, although Italian females at certain age periods show rather unfavorable conditions, especially from the respiratory diseases. The remaining races may be arranged roughly in the following increasing order of mortality: Austro-Hungarians, British, Germans, and Irish. Of these four nationalities, the first appears to be the only one whose mortality in New York state is more favorable than that prevailing in the native country. The very high rate of mortality among the Germans and es- pecially among the Irish is one of the surprising facts of this study. Apparently it is the very high incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis that is largely responsible for this condition, although the degenerative diseases also present rates much in excess of those for the native born of native parentage or for the same nationalities abroad. These facts are clearly indicative of unfavorable conditions of life and work among the peoples in question, and point definitely to the need of special public health work by the state and various city departments of health for these groups of the population. A large number of unnecessary deaths would readily be prevented by a concerted effort carried over a period of years. Louis I. Dublin. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 01 3 737 827 9 #