New Ways to Die in the Age of Biomedicalization: Changes in Cause of Death Classification Rules

• In Event: 132 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Paper Session. Topics in Science, Knowledge and Technology Studies

Abstract

Theories of biomedicalization suggest a shift from emphasis on treating acute conditions (like pneumonia) toward chronic conditions (like high blood pressure) beginning in the 1980s. These shifts in emphasis should be age-graded for two reasons. First, while acute conditions come and go, chronic conditions accumulate with age. Second, more individuals are exposed to a broader array of diagnostic observation at 65 with Medicare, leading to a wider collection of chronic conditions. Over this same time period, the rules for identifying the underlying cause of death also changed. This study addresses two questions: (1) is the shift from acute to chronic conditions under biomedicalization observable in reported cause of death classifications, and (2) are these changes graded by age? Using a unique bridge-coding data set from 1996 which reports two cause-of-death classifications for each approximately 2 million individuals, this study finds that individuals are dramatically more likely to be reclassified to chronic causes of death under the new coding system as they age.

Author

• Bryce J. Bartlett, Duke University