Department of Health
John J. Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, Commissioner

Diseases of the heart, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRD) and diabetes are among the leading causes of mortality in Tennessee. The following series of maps present 2005-2007 age-adjusted mortality rates for these diseases for Tennessee residents by Tennessee State Senate Districts. They include maps for the total population as well as by gender and by race groups.

Age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated from the 2005-2007 Death Statistical System provided by the Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Health Statistics. Data were for Tennessee residents with underlying cause of death recorded as diseases of the heart (ICD10 codes of I00-I09, I11, I13, I20-I51), cancer (C00-C97), stroke (I60-I69), CLRD (J40-J47) or diabetes (E10-E14). Because 2005-2007 population data by senate legislative districts were unavailable, 2000 population data were used instead as the denominators to calculate mortality rates. As a result, the rates are in general higher than the actual mortality rates in the population. Resident addresses were geocoded to determine senate districts for urban residents, while resident county was used to determine senate districts for rural residents. 99.96% records were able to be successfully geocoded. Rates were age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population using the direct method. Race classifications of “white” and “African American” refer to individuals regardless of Hispanic origin.

In some districts, mortality rates for African Americans were based on relatively small numbers of deaths. These results should be interpreted with caution.

Cancer

Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease

Diabetes

Diseases of the Heart