In the Overview of the Report Card, what method was used to project Wisconsins future mortality rate?
To calculate the rank of Wisconsin in mortality rates, we used simple linear regression on log-transformed mortality rates from 1992-2002 to identify trends for each state. We obtained our mortality rates from CDC WONDER; the data were age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 population, included all deaths prior to age 75, and were reported as deaths per 100,000 population. We used 3-year rolled averages to improve stability in the yearly rates (for example, the mortality rates we used for 1992 were an average of the mortality rates for the years 1991, 1992, and 1993). The regression results were used to project each state’s mortality rate to 2015. We then ranked states based on the mortality rates for the years 1992, 2002, and 2012.
