NCHS Research: Visualizing Health Statistics

Mortality Atals

Released to the public on April 14, 1997, this atlas is the first to show all leading causes of death by race and sex for small U.S. geographic areas referred to as Health Service Areas (HSA's). The 18 causes of death included in this atlas account for 83 percent of all deaths in the United States during 1988-92. In addition to maps with age-adjusted death rates for each HSA, the atlas includes maps that compare each HSA rate to the national rate, smoothed maps for each cause that show the broad geographic patterns at selected ages, and a chart with regional rates for each cause of death. (NCHS PRESS RELEASE)

The Atlas was produced in-house by our own Deasy GeoGraphics Laboratory.

Featured Research

The Atlas made extensive use of the design principles established by Drs. Brewer and MacEachren.
Below is an example of a map from the Atlas. It shows a diverging 5-class color scheme, with reliability hatching superimposed over the color. Bivariate maps (those that display more than one thematic variable at a time) can be difficult to read. Evenly spaced black and white "cased" lines, however, proved to be the most effective solution to this problem - the lines do not compete visually with the underlying map.

For more information about the Atlas of United States Mortality, and how you can get a copy, visit the NCHS.

RETURN TO GeoVISTA
Copyright © 1998 Pennsylvania State University



	Released to the public on April 14, 1997, this atlas is the first to show all leading causes of death by race and sex for small U.S. geographic areas referred to as Health Service Areas (HSA's). The 18 causes of death included in this atlas account for 83 percent of all deaths in the United States during 1988-92. In addition to maps with age-adjusted death rates for each HSA, the atlas includes maps that compare each HSA rate to the national rate, smoothed maps for each cause that show the broad geographic patterns at selected ages, and a chart with regional rates for each cause of death. (NCHS PRESS RELEASE) The Atlas was produced in-house by our own Deasy GeoGraphics Laboratory.	The Atlas made extensive use of the design principles established by Drs. Brewer and MacEachren. Below is an example of a map from the Atlas. It shows a diverging 5-class color scheme, with reliability hatching superimposed over the color. Bivariate maps (those that display more than one thematic variable at a time) can be difficult to read. Evenly spaced black and white "cased" lines, however, proved to be the most effective solution to this problem - the lines do not compete visually with the underlying map. For more information about the Atlas of United States Mortality, and how you can get a copy, visit the NCHS.



RETURN TO GeoVISTA	Copyright © 1998 Pennsylvania State University