Week One Assignment[WLOs: 3, 4] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4]
This week’s assignment will focus on changes in the causes of death over the past century and help you develop skill in calculating important epidemiological statistics. To answer the assignment questions, refer to your required readings and to Table 2A-1, which appears on Page 103 of the Friis and Sellers (2014) textbook and is reproduced below.
Table 2A–1
Leading Causes of Death and Rates for Those Causes in 1900 and 2009, United States
Rate per 100,000 Population
Rank
1900
Cause of Death1
1900
20092
All causes
1,719.1
793.7
1
Influenza and pneumonia, except pneumonia of newborn
202.2
17.5
2
Tuberculosis, all forms
194.4
NA3
3
Diarrhea and enteritis
139.9
NA
4
Disease of heart
137.4
195.0
5
Cerebrovascular diseases
106.9
41.9
6
Chronic nephritis
81.0
15.9
7
Accidents and adverse effects
72.3
38.2
8
Malignant neoplasms
64.0
185.2
9
Senility
50.2
NA
10
Diphtheria
40.3
NA
In your Week One assignment, please answer the following questions:
- Calculate the percentage decline in the death rate for all causes. What generalizations can be made about changes in disease rates that have occurred between 1900 and the present?
- Contrast the changes in death rates due to cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular diseases. What additional information would be useful to better specify the changes in these conditions? Calculate the percentage decline in the death rate for all causes. What generalizations can be made about changes in disease rates that have occurred between 1900 and the present?
- Note the decline in mortality for the four communicable diseases (rankings 1, 2, 3, and 10) since 1900. With the exception of pneumonia and influenza, these are no longer among the 10 leading causes of death. Can you speculate regarding how much of each is due to environmental improvements and how much is due to specific preventive and curative practices?
- Among the 10 leading causes of death in 2009 were chronic lower respiratory diseases (44.7 per 100,000—rank 3), diabetes (22.3 per 100,000—rank 7), Alzheimer’s disease (25.7 per 100,000—rank 6), and suicide (11.9 per 100,000—rank 10). (Note: Data are not shown in Table 2A–1.) In 1900, these were not among the 10 leading causes of death. How do you account for these changes?
The Week One Assignment must
- Be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA styleLinks to an external site. as outlined in the UAGC Writing CenterLinks to an external site.. The length of your response should be sufficient to answer each question fully.
- Show calculations for solving problems using an equation editor, a clear photo, or scan of legible pen or pencil calculations saved either as an image and inserted into your assignment document or attached as a .pdf file. If doing the later, your .pdf image should be descriptively named using the following format: lastnamefirstinitialWeek1AssignmentQuestion.pdf. For example, John Snow would save his file as jsnowWeek1AssignmentQuestionA.pdf.
- Must include a separate title pageLinks to an external site. with the following:
- Title of paper
- Student’s name
- Course name and number
- Instructor’s name
- Date submitted
Carefully review the Grading RubricLinks to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
