For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Data Brief spotlights heart disease and lung cancer as leading causes of death in Volusia County

DAYTONA BEACH - The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County has issued a data brief that takes a closer look at the leading causes of death in Volusia County.

“Heart disease and lung cancer are the two leading causes of death in Volusia County,” said Dr. Bonnie J. Sorensen, director of the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County. “Overall, Volusia County had a 14 percent higher rate of death than Florida.”

The 2012 Volusia County age-adjusted death rates exceeded each of Florida’s top ten causes of death. More than half (59.0 percent) of the 6,295 Volusia County deaths in 2012 were attributed to the top ten causes of death.

Furthermore, the five leading causes accounted for 45.6 percent of all Volusia County deaths. Heart disease was 11.6 percent higher in Volusia County than Florida. Heart disease led all other rates; it was at least 180 percent greater than the next leading cause of death for Volusia and Florida.

The top causes of death in Volusia County are as follows:

• Heart disease

• Lung Cancer

• Unintentional injuries

• COPD

• Dementia

• Diabetes

• Alzheimer’s disease

• Stroke

• Colon Cancer

• Failure to thrive

Data brief highlights include:

• Blacks in the northeast quadrant were the only race with a rate above 200 deaths per 100,000 population with 232.2 for heart disease

• Death rates for blacks in the northeast quadrant were 28 percent higher than the next highest race (whites) in the quadrant

• No race among the quadrants had the same top two causes of death

• Colon cancer was a leading cause of death only in the northeast quadrant

• Liver cancer was a leading cause of death only for Hispanics in the eastern quadrants

• Strokes were a leading cause of death for other races only and limited to the southern quadrants

For more information, please visit our website www.volusiahealth.com