How are the spatially smoothed mortality rates calculated?
Spatially smoothed and age adjusted death rates were calculated at the county level, by sex, for each of the following racial and ethnic groups: American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asians and Pacific Islanders, blacks, Hispanics, and whites. Rates were also calculated for the total U.S. population. For each county, the number of deaths (numerators) and population counts (denominators) for 10 year age groups (i.e., age 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, 65–74, 75–84, and 85 or older) were summed for the specified periods. County numerators and denominators were then combined with numerators and denominators of all neighboring counties. Neighboring counties were defined solely by contiguity rather than distance. The combined numerators were divided by the combined denominators to produce spatially smoothed, age specific (i.e., by 10–year age group) death rates. These spatially smoothed rates were then directly age adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population for the age groups 35 years or older. The
