Vital and health statistics: Russian Federation and United States, selected years 1985-2000 with an overview of Russian mortality in the 1990s.

This report provides comparative vital and health statistics data for recent years for the Russian Federation and the United States. Statistical data for Russia and from the Ministry of Health of Russia and from Goskomstat, the central statistical organization of Russia. Information for the United States comes from various data systems of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) as well as other parts of the Department of Health and Human Services. The initial section of the report summarizes information on recent mortality trends in the Russian Federation. During the 1990s, Russia experienced a major increase in mortality from 1990 to 1994, a substantial reduction in mortality from 1994 to 1998, and another major increase from 1998 to 2000. The mortality overview uses tables and figures to describe mortality changes by age group, sex, and cause of death, and to determine the contribution of each of these to changes in life expectancy. The overview also considers risk factors and other issues underlying these trends, in an attempt to understand the impact of major mortality determinants on changes in life expectancy. The section on vital and health statistics uses tables, figures, and commentary to present information on many different health measures for the populations of the two countries. Topics covered include population size, fertility, life expectancy, infant mortality, death rates, communicable diseases, and various health personnel and health resource measures. The commentary includes a discussion of data quality issues that affect the accuracy and comparability of the information presented. Data are provided for selected years from 1985 to 2000. In addition to national data, mortality information on urban and rural subgroups in Russia is provided. A glossary of terms at the end of the report provides additional information on definitions and data sources and limitations.