TABLE 3.

Calculation of the Number of US Deaths in 2000 Attributable to Each Social Factor

Social Factor and Age Group	RR (95% CI)a	Prevalence, %b	PAF, %c	Total Deaths,d No.	Deaths Attributable to Social Factor,e No.
Individual-level factors
Low education
Aged ≥ 25 y					244 526
Aged 25–64 y	1.81 (1.64, 2.00)	16.1	11.5	972 645	112 209
Aged ≥ 65 y	1.23 (0.86, 1.76)	34.5	7.4	1 799 825	132 317
Poverty
Aged ≥ 25 y					133 250
Aged 25–64 y	1.75 (1.51, 2.04)	9.5	6.7	972 645	64 692
Aged ≥ 65 y	1.40 (1.37, 1.43)	9.9	3.8	1 799 825	68 558
Low social support
Aged ≥ 25 y					161 522
Aged 25–64 y	1.34 (1.23, 1.47)	21.0	6.7	972 645	64 819
Aged ≥ 65 y	1.34 (1.16, 1.55)	16.7	5.4	1 799 825	96 703
Area-level factorsf
Area-level poverty	1.22 (1.17, 1.28)	7.8	1.7	2 331 261	39 330
Income inequality	1.17 (1.06, 1.29)	31.7	5.1	2 331 261	119 208
Racial segregation	1.59 (1.31, 1.94)	13.8	7.5	2 331 261	175 520

Note. CI = confidence interval; PAF = population attributable fraction; RR = relative risk.

^aSummary relative risk estimates derived from meta-analyses as described in Methods.

^bPrevalence of each social factor in the US population of the relevant age, according to 2000 US Census data, except low social support, according to data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, as reported in Ford et al., 2006.⁷⁶

^cPAF = ([p(RR–1)] / [p(RR–1) + 1]) × 100, where p is the prevalence expressed as a proportion and RR is the relative risk estimate for the group of interest.

^dTotal number of deaths in each age group in 2000, from Minino et al., 2002.⁸¹ For low education, poverty, and low social support, deaths for the younger age group include deaths for those aged 25–74 y to account for an average of 10 y of follow-up time in studies used to calculate the summary relative risk estimate.

^eDeaths attributable to social factor = (PAF/100) × total deaths in 2000. Numbers reflect the use of a nonrounded population attributable fraction in calculations.

^fAge group for all area-level factors was ≥ 25 y.