Deaths which occurred from 1991 -1998 are classified using the ICD-9 which began in 1979 while the deaths which occurred from 1999-present are classified using ICD-10. This site uses several tabulation lists that have been established by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) for the general analysis of mortality statistics (1).

The lists of 72 and 113 selected causes of death are the lists that are used for general analysis. They are also the list from which the Rankable causes of death were selected. The Rankable causes of death were selected from these lists by excluding those causes which were vaguely categorized (i.e. symptoms, signs, and abnormal clinical findings, those not elsewhere classified and all "other" categories) (2).  

The lists of 34 and 39 causes are condensed versions of the list of 72 and 113 respectively.  These lists have been used by the Oklahoma State Department of Health in past Annual Oklahoma Health Statistics reports.

Because of the revisions to the ICD mortality coding system, there have been interruptions in the time series of mortality statistics. Therefore, when looking at mortality rates/counts which span different revisions, the possible changes in coding rules and categorizations should be taken into account (2).

For information on the ICD-10 mortality coding system (includes link to ICD-9) go to

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd-10-cm.htm

1.  Anderson RN, Minino AM, Hoyert DL, Rosenberg HM, Comparability of Cause of Death Between ICD-9 and ICD-10: Preliminary Estimates. National Vital Statistics Report: vol 49 no 2. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2001. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr49/nvsr49_02.pdf

2.  Anderson RN: Deaths: Leading Causes for 2000.  National Vital Statistic Reports: vol 50 no 16. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2002. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_16.pdf