Mortality patterns--United States, 1989.

During 1989, 2,150,466 deaths were registered in the United States--17,533 fewer deaths than the record-high number recorded in 1988. In 1989, as for at least the past 20 years, nearly three fourths of deaths were attributable to the first four leading causes of death--heart disease, cancer, stroke, and unintentional injury. This report summarizes mortality data compiled by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) for 1989 (1) and compares patterns with 1988.