Unnecessary morbidity and mortality is an important problem which leads to increased health care costs and can ultimately result in premature death. It has been estimated that approximately two thirds of mortality is due to potentially preventable causes - 1.2 million deaths (65%) and 8.4 million years of life lost before age 65 (63%). Principal factors associated with unnecessary mortality include tobacco use, high blood pressure, improper nutrition, lack of screening and prevention services, alcohol abuse, and injury. This project uses data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) to examine the influence of modifiable risk factors such as these on the occurrence of premature deaths which have occurred during the 32 years of the study. Using the Health Risk. Appraisal (HRA) developed by the Carter Center of Emory University, serum total cholesterol levels, blood pressures, relative body weights and tobacco use of BLSA males who died before age 75 and women who died before age 80 are examined to assess their impact on mortality and modifiability in terms of potential years of life gained. The HRA evaluations indicate that the majority of men and women who died prematurely of heart disease and stroke would have reduced their chances of mortality if they had successfully reduced their cholesterol, blood pressure and body weight. Also, 67% of the men and 40% of the women had an added risk due to cigarette smoking. Similar trends were found for those who died of cancer, except reducing blood pressure was found to be the least successful modifiable risk factor. Results show that 45% of the females who died from cancer were recommended to reduce blood pressure; while 46% of the men received similar recommendations.
