Hi everyone
I keep coming across citations of McGinnis & Foege's classic 1993 paper:
McGinnis JM, Foege WH. Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA
1993 Nov 10;270(18):2207-12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15010446
There is also a follow-up paper:
Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the
United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004 Mar 10;291(10):1238-45.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15010446
The first paper in particular seems to be very influential - according to
Google Scholar, it has been cited by 1673 academic publications. Most often
what is cited is the claim that 40% of deaths are caused by preventable
behaviors - the usual suspects: smoking, bad diet and lack of exercise,
alcohol..
It is generally cited by people on the lifestyle bandwagon (who usually do
not mention that McGinnis & Foege stated that social determinants are also
important), but it is also sometimes cited by people with a social
determinants orientation, usually in relation to the point McGinnis & Foege
made about the disproportionate allocation of health resources to treatment
rather than prevention. Disappointingly, in the latter cases, there is
usually no critical discussion of the 40% lifestyle claim.
Can anyone point me to a good critique of the methodology, assumptions,
interpretation etc.?
Thanks
Melissa
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