Top 10 Causes of Premature Death

As part of our mission, advancing research into causes of premature death and disability in Los Angeles is a priority for the CTSI. The research studies reported in the below table are representative of CTSI-supported team science that spans the translational spectrum and integrates children, older adults and populations experiencing health disparities. Our collaborations with community partners have had a direct impact on health care.

Leading Causes of Premature Death in Los Angeles County, 2017.
Rank Cause of Death #Extramural Total Amount #Pubs in Area Examples of CTSI-supported Outcomes
1 Heart disease 59 $105M 530 A cluster-randomized trial of blood-pressure reduction in black barbershops, NEJM
2 Unintentional drug overdose 15 $28M 7 Physician prescribing of opioids to patients at increased risk of overdose from benzodiazepine use, JAMA Psychiatry
3 Suicide 0 0 11 At-school substance use as a marker for serious health risks, Acad Pediatrics
4 Motor vehicle crash 0 0 2 Traumatic brain injury related hospitalization and mortality in California, BioMed Research Intl
5 Homicide 2 $4M 13 Examination of the short-and long-term impact of school shootings, DOJ Award 2015-VF-GX-K113
6 Liver disease/cirrhosis 8 $15M 63 Genome-wide associations related to hepatic histology in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Hispanic boys, J Pediatrics
7 Diabetes 21 $39M 171 Implementation and evaluation of a large-scale teleretinal diabetic retinopathy screening program in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, JAMA Int Med
8 Stroke 4 $16M 85 SIRRACT: An international randomized clinical trial of activity feedback during inpatient stroke rehabilitation enabled by wireless sensing, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair
9 Lung cancer 50 $75M 59 In vivo imaging of mitochondrial membrane potential in non-small-cell lung cancer, Nature
10 Breast cancer 23 $25M 86 Modulates cancer cell pyruvate export and growth of tumors that co-express MCT1 and MCT4, Cell Reports