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Causes of death vs. media coverage (Shen et al. 2018)
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Heart disease 2016 30.2 2.0 2.48 2.12 Accidents 2016 8.64 11.73 2.9 3.82 Lower respiratory disease 2016 7.41 2.07 1.17 2.59 Stroke 2016 5.86 6.45 5.04 5.19 Alzheimer's Disease 2016 6.57 3.92 1.01 0 Homicide 2016 1.91 3.21 23.75 23.31 Suicide 2016 2.15 12.36 11.75 14.03 Cancer 2016 29.45 37.55 13.47 13.7 Diabetes 2016 4.84 9.93 2.39 2.25 Terrorism 2016 0 7.21 36.58 33.26 Drug overdose 2016 3.8 1.27 0.4 0.28 Kidney disease 2016 3.69 1.08 0.18 0.14 Pneumonia & influenza 2016 2.47 5.22 3.89 2.31 Suicide 2015 2.15 12.22 10.91 12.27 Accidents 2015 7.05 10.48 2.07 3.7 Pneumonia & influenza 2015 3.78 5.03 3.87 2.32 Alzheimer's Disease 2015 5.38 2.16 1.23 0.04 Homicide 2015 1.86 4.69 23.74 24.02 Kidney disease 2015 3.69 1.05 0.25 0.16 Cancer 2015 30.82 36.41 17.37 13.57 Heart disease 2015 31.63 2.01 3.13 2.89 Terrorism 2015 0 8.28 32.58 35.95 Diabetes 2015 4.87 9.03 3.83 2.34 Drug overdose 2015 2.31 1.26 0.31 0.17 Lower respiratory disease 2015 8.55 2.2 1.14 1.4 Stroke 2015 5.91 6.19 5.57 5.18 Accidents 2014 7.78 11.75 3.53 3.59 Lower respiratory disease 2014 7.44 2.28 2.8 2.54 Alzheimer's Disease 2014 5.73 2.11 2.51 0.29 Stroke 2014 5.08 6.36 5.0 6.24 Cancer 2014 31.74 38.98 20.95 15.04 Terrorism 2014 0 4.3 25.88 27.91 Diabetes 2014 4.87 10.71 3.2 3.95 Homicide 2014 1.79 4.66 24.57 27.09 Kidney disease 2014 3.66 1.05 0.28 0.12 Suicide 2014 2.17 13.05 10.36 12.79 Drug overdose 2014 2.12 1.43 0.33 0.22 Heart disease 2014 31.84 2.21 3.02 2.3 Pneumonia & influenza 2014 3.79 5.11 4.57 3.92 Homicide 2013 1.82 3.45 22.48 27.19 Pneumonia & influenza 2013 3.92 5.01 4.08 3.21 Accidents 2013 7.61 12.74 2.19 3.23 Suicide 2013 2.1 12.46 10.69 10.47 Terrorism 2013 0 4.44 26.99 26.47 Alzheimer's Disease 2013 4.34 2.15 1.42 0.48 Stroke 2013 5.13 6.38 6.0 7.6 Lower respiratory disease 2013 8.65 2.2 2.66 1.4 Cancer 2013 31.8 38.72 19.59 16.64 Kidney disease 2013 3.62 1.97 0.36 0.16 Diabetes 2013 4.87 10.76 4.66 3.72 Heart disease 2013 31.15 2.25 4.7 2.37 Drug overdose 2013 2.99 1.46 0.2 0.06 Suicide 2012 2.12 13.98 10.29 12.51 Accidents 2012 7.58 12.65 3.92 3.61 Stroke 2012 5.22 6.35 7.86 7.2 Alzheimer's Disease 2012 4.37 2.37 1.38 1.59 Heart disease 2012 31.13 2.39 4.79 2.09 Cancer 2012 31.23 37.4 22.8 16.2 Homicide 2012 1.86 4.52 22.3 29.09 Diabetes 2012 4.86 10.81 4.1 3.53 Pneumonia & influenza 2012 3.65 5.15 3.49 3.16 Lower respiratory disease 2012 8.5 2.22 2.86 1.44 Drug overdose 2012 2.9 2.63 0.24 0.07 Kidney disease 2012 3.57 1.96 0.34 0.1 Terrorism 2012 0 4.58 21.64 23.4 Homicide 2011 1.84 4.68 22.29 29.29 Accidents 2011 7.53 11.34 3.1 3.87 Heart disease 2011 31.1 2.4 3.37 2.17 Kidney disease 2011 3.56 1.93 0.35 0.15 Alzheimer's Disease 2011 4.46 2.49 1.45 1.55 Pneumonia & influenza 2011 3.82 5.96 3.05 3.41 Cancer 2011 31.03 37.99 23.71 16.94 Lower respiratory disease 2011 8.5 2.21 2.73 1.34 Suicide 2011 2.07 13.54 10.47 12.2 Diabetes 2011 4.87 10.83 3.31 2.38 Stroke 2011 5.3 6.42 6.49 7.0 Drug overdose 2011 2.9 2.69 0.31 0.21 Terrorism 2011 0 5.52 21.38 23.5 Heart disease 2010 32.5 3.64 3.41 2.03 Kidney disease 2010 3.82 1.94 0.26 0.18 Terrorism 2010 0 5.81 22.32 27.07 Stroke 2010 5.44 6.06 6.36 6.19 Accidents 2010 6.32 11.75 3.86 3.9 Alzheimer's Disease 2010 4.42 2.37 1.43 1.53 Cancer 2010 31.24 38.62 23.81 14.84 Lower respiratory disease 2010 7.31 2.16 2.09 1.46 Suicide 2010 2.03 13.16 11.66 12.4 Diabetes 2010 4.66 10.17 4.19 2.12 Pneumonia & influenza 2010 3.66 4.44 3.48 4.76 Drug overdose 2010 2.76 2.83 0.29 0.12 Homicide 2010 1.84 3.05 20.86 27.4 Accidents 2009 6.21 10.3 2.3 3.12 Pneumonia & influenza 2009 3.87 5.68 11.8 9.16 Alzheimer's Disease 2009 4.22 3.55 2.54 0.45 Kidney disease 2009 3.74 1.89 0.35 0.08 Cancer 2009 31.1 38.16 22.85 13.25 Lower respiratory disease 2009 7.34 2.07 2.8 1.26 Stroke 2009 5.45 6.8 5.11 6.31 Terrorism 2009 0 5.0 21.21 26.19 Drug overdose 2009 2.7 2.0 0.22 0.19 -
Shen et al. (2018) compared the leading causes of death in the United States as their share of total deaths relative to Google searches and media coverage in The New York Times (NYT) and The Guardian newspaper. For this analysis they selected the top 10 causes of death in the USA in addition to terrorism, homicide, and drug overdoses (which they assumed to also receive significant media attention).
Data each causes' share of total deaths in the USA was assessed based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER database for public health, available at: https://wonder.cdc.gov/. This is available from 1999 to 2016. Combined, the 13 causes of death assessed in this analysis account for approximately 88% of all deaths in the USA.
Data on Google searches was derived from Google Trends (available from 2004 to 2016). This was assessed on the number of searches for these terms and close synonyms.
The New York Times and The Guardian media coverage was assessed from both newspapers' article databases. Here the authors searched the database for a list of all articles which contained the word anywhere (headline or body).
All values are normalized to 100% so they represent their relative share of the top causes, rather than absolute
counts (e.g. ‘deaths’ represents each causes’ share of deaths within the 13 categories shown rather than total deaths). This allows for us to compare the relative representation of different sources.
Full methodology, notes and open-access data on GitHub are available from the original source: https://owenshen24.github.io/charting-death/.
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Sources
Data Published By: Shen et al. (2018). Death: Reality vs Reported.
Data publisher source:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Google Trends; NYT and The Guardian article database
