High and Rising Mortality Rates Among Working-Age Adults

This week's review examines the alarming mortality rate among working-age adults, addressing risk factors and recommendations for future policies and research.

High and Rising Mortality Rates Among Working-Age Adults

ed. by Kathleen Mullan Harris, Malay K. Majmundar, and Tara Becker National Academies Press, 2021
596p bibl index, 9780309684736 $130.00, 9780309684767 $104.99

High and Rising Mortality Rates Among Working-Age Adults book cover. Dark teal background with white text.

As noted in the preface to this Consensus Study Report, in 2014, deaths among working-age adults began to increase in the US, and this mortality trend continued to amplify. The situation has been reported in peer-reviewed articles in medical, social science, public health, and psychology journals. The volume under review refers to this trend as a crisis, one that speaks to the need for recommendations within the economic, community health, and policy spheres. Organized into three parts comprising 11 chapters, the report delivers an impressive array of information in considerable detail, summarizing geographic, racial/demographic, international/comparative, and cause-specific information in part 1, including the impact of COVID-19. Chapter 5 offers an extensive discussion on data quality and research methodology. Part 2 focuses on explanations and features detailed analysis of many different factors, including economics (e.g., decline in the price of alcohol, job loss), cardiometabolic disease, and suicide. Overall, the report is a robust treatment of a complex topic. Organization and subheadings make navigation easy, and there is a detailed list of figures and tables. This essential reference for college and university libraries successfully summarizes research, presents exemplary data, and offers detailed recommendations. The more than 50-page bibliography and appendixes on mortality data analysis are also noteworthy.

Summing Up: Essential. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.
Reviewer: J. A. Ohles, Moravian College
Subject: Science & Technology – Health Sciences
Choice Issue: Jun 2022


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