Leading components of upturn in mortality for men, United States - 1952-67

Excluding the sharp peaks in the mortali~ curve reflecting the pandemic of influenza in 1918-19 and subsequent severe epidemics of influenza and pneumonia in a number of other years, the trend of the death rate for the United States was clearly downward during 1900-1950. Then the death rate leveled off and remained almost stationary during 1950-60. Moriyama 1 began to ask if the stationary level was transitory or whether it marked the beginning of a new uptrend in mortality. An analysis of age-color-sex specific death rates for the period 1948-68 answers the question at least for male persons. For both white men and those of other races, for most age groups beginning with 15-19 years, the course of mortality was indeed upward in the 1960's (tables 1 and 2).