In 2004, there were 1,215,947 female deaths in
the United States. Of these deaths, nearly half
were attributable to heart disease and malignant
neoplasms (cancer), responsible for 330,513 and
267,058 deaths, respectively. The next two
leading causes of death were cerebrovascular
diseases (stroke), which accounted for 7.5 percent
of deaths, followed by chronic lower respiratory
disease, which accounted for 5.2 percent.
Heart disease was the leading cause of death for
women in almost every racial and ethnic group;
the exception was Asian/Pacific Islander females,
for whom the leading cause of death was cancer.
One of the most noticeable differences in leading
causes of death by race and ethnicity is that
chronic lower respiratory disease was the fourth
leading cause of death among non-Hispanic
White females while it was the seventh leading
cause of death among other racial and ethnic
groups. Similarly, diabetes mellitus was the eighth
leading cause of death among non-Hispanic
White females, while it was the fourth among
other racial and ethnic groups. Among Hispanic
females, death in the perinatal period was the
ninth leading cause of death, and hypertension
was the tenth leading cause among Asian/Pacific
Islander females. Also noteworthy is that Native
American/Alaska Native females experienced a
higher proportion of deaths due to unintentional
injury (8.5 percent) and liver disease (4.2 percent)
than females of other racial and ethnic groups.
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TABLE: Ten Leading Causes of Death Among Females (All Ages), by Race/Ethnicity, 2004 |