3-5: Death across the Lifespan Flashcards
Find the average life expectancy of people in the United States
The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 77.4 years.
Explain why the infant mortality rate (6.8 per 1,000) in the U.S. is relatively high.
The countries that have a lower infant mortality rate than the United States all have national medical programs that provide free or low-cost maternal care during pregnancy. We are one of the few developed nations without such a program.
Name the main causes of death in infancy and childhood.
During the first year of life, the main causes of death are congenital abnormalities and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which happens when the infant simply stops breathing.
After the first year, the main cause of death among children under age 15 is accidents, which account for 40% of all deaths in this group. In early childhood, accidents are most frequently due to accidental poisoning, injuries, or falls in the home. In later years, automobile accidents take over as the chief cause of accidental death. Cancer, especially, leukemia, is the second leading cause of death in youngsters between ages 1 and 15, and its incidence is rising.
Identify the conditions under which SIDS is most likely to occur.
The causes of SIDS are not entirely known – the infant simply stops breathing – but epidemiologic studies reveal that it is more likely to occur in lower-class urban environments, when the mother smoked during her pregnancy and when the baby is put to sleep on its stomach or side.
Describe three developmental stages in children’s understanding of death.
- Up to age 5, most children think of death as a great sleep. Children at this age are often curious about death rather than frightened or saddened by it, partly because they may not understand that death is final and irreversible.
- Between ages 5 and 9, the idea that death is final may develop, although most children of this age do not have a biological understanding of death. For some of these children, death is personified into a shadowy figure, such as a ghost or a devil.
- The idea that death is universal and inevitable may not develop until age 9 or 10. At this point, the child typically has some understanding of the processes involved in death (such as burial and cremation), knows that the body decomposes, and realizes that the person who has died will not return.
Name the main causes of death among the elderly.
Typically, the elderly die of degenerative diseases, such as cancer, stroke, heart failure, or just general physical decline that predisposes them to infectious disease or organ failure.
List two psychosocial factors that predict health among the elderly.
- Satisfaction with life
2. Mood (depression seriously impairs health)
infant mortality rate
The number of infant deaths per thousand infants.
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
A common cause of death among infants, in which an infant simply stops breathing.
premature death
Death that occurs before the projected age of 75.
