Here’s even more proof that Home Instead's services will be needed into the future. Life expectancy in the United States increased to just more than 78 years, according to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control ‘s (CDC’s) National Center for Health Statistics. The estimate of 78.2 years is for a baby born in 2009 and is up from 78.0 years in 2008.
The CDC also said that the age-adjusted death rate for the U.S. population fell to an all-time low of 741 deaths per 100,000 people in 2009 — 2.3 percent lower than the 2008 rate. This marks the 10th year in a row that U.S. deaths rates have declined.
The findings come from "Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2009," which is based on death certificates provided to NCHS through the National Vital Statistics Reporting System from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Other highlights of the report include:
- Death rates declined significantly for 10 of the 15 leading causes of death in 2009: heart disease (declined by 3.7 percent), cancer (1.1 percent), chronic lower respiratory diseases (4.1 percent), stroke (4.2 percent), accidents/unintentional injuries (4.1 percent), Alzheimer's disease (4.1 percent), diabetes (4.1 percent), influenza and pneumonia (4.7 percent), septicemia (1.8 percent), and homicide (6.8 percent).
- Overall, there were 2,436,682 deaths in the United States in 2009 – 36,336 fewer than in 2008 (1.5 percent decrease).
The full report is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.
