Chronic liver disease mortality in the United States, 1979 through 1989

Objectives. Rates and trends for chronic liver disease mortality in the United States were examined. Methods. National Center for Health Statistics data on underlying cause of death for chronic liver disease for the United States from 1979 through 1989 were analyzed. Four groups of diseases and conditions included under the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, code for chronic liver disease were assessed separately. Results. From 1979 through 1989, there were 303 875 deaths from chronic liver disease; 48% were in the cirrhosis without alcohol group, 42% in the alcohol-related liver disease group, 8% in the liver disease without alcohol group, and 1.5% in the biliary cirrhosis group. Chronic liver disease death rates for Blacks were more than 1.5 times greater than those for Whites and for other races. Chronic liver disease mortality declined 22% overall among both sexes. The largest decreases were for liver disease without alcohol (42%) and cirrhosis without alcohol (25%), followed by alcohol-related liver disease (14%) and biliary cirrhosis (12%). Conclusion. Although declines in US chronic liver disease deaths have been attributed to declining alcohol consumption, these analyses suggest that greater declines have occurred in deaths not coded as alcohol related.