Mortality Due to All Causes and to Cardiovascular Diseases Among Seven Race-ethnic Populations in Los Angeles County, 1980

Mortality rates during 1980 in Los Angeles County are presented for Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Americans of Japanese, Chinese, Philippine, and Korean descent, seven groups with varying patterns of migration during the prior decade. For all causes of death, age- and sex-adjusted rates were highest among Blacks, intermediate among Whites and Hispanics, and substantially lower among Asians and Pacific Islanders. A similar observation was made for the major cardiovascular diseases and for diseases of the heart. In contrast, the mortality rates for cerebrovascular diseases exhibited a slightly different pattern, with Blacks again highest, Whites and Japanese being intermediate, and Hispanics, Filipinos, Chinese, and Koreans being lowest. The descriptive information suggests several areas for further research into the effect of various cultural or lifestyle patterns on the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.