MORTALITY PREVENTABLE BY MEDICAL INTERVENTION - ETHNIC AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN TEXAS

An examination of mortality from 12 causes of death was tabulated for the state of Texas for residents in the Lower Rio Grande Valley; for r esidents of border counties; for residents of Dallas, Harris, and Tarr ant counties, along with residents of east Texas from 1980 to 1989. Th e ninth revised edition of the International Classification of Disease s was used to categorize causes of mortality. The mortality data were obtained from mortality data tapes obtained from the Texas Department of Health and archived at the University of Texas School of Public Hea lth. From 1980 to 1989, an average of 1543 deaths per year was attribu ted to these 12 selected causes in Texas. Thirty-two percent of deaths were due to hypertensive heart disease, 30% to pneumonia and bronchit is, 11% to cervical cancer, and 6% to rheumatic fever. Pneumonia and b ronchitis were the leading causes of death among those aged 15 to 44 y ears.