Arizona life expectancy dropped after COVID-19 pandemic
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Arizona experienced one of the country's greatest decreases in life expectancy at birth from 2020 to 2021, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis — declining from 76.3 to 75 years.
Why it matters: Arizona's significant decline showed how dramatically COVID-19 and drug overdoses hit the state in 2020.
- The national life expectancy dropped from 77 to 76.4 years during the same time.
Between the lines: Women are expected to live longer than men nationwide.
- In Arizona, the gender gap in 2021 was 6.3 years.
Zoom out: Hawaii (79.9 years), Massachusetts (79.6) and Connecticut (79.2) had the longest life expectancy at birth as of 2021, per the CDC analysis.
- Mississippi (70.9 years), West Virginia (71.0) and Alabama (72.0) had the shortest.
Zoom in: Arizona experienced the highest adjusted death rate in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis published in The Lancet last year.
- Meanwhile, Arizona's drug overdose rate went from 35.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 to 38.7 in 2021, per the CDC.
The intrigue: The Lancet analysis found that states with mandates encouraging mask use, mobility restriction and vaccination — and mandates kept in place longer — experienced lower infection rates.
- Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble, who was critical of former Gov. Doug Ducey's pandemic response, told Axios the state's decision to preempt local governments and businesses from being able to enforce mask and vaccine requirements led to unnecessary deaths during the pandemic.
Yes, but: Arizona's COVID policies didn't just result in more coronavirus deaths, Humble said. They also contributed to an uptick in deaths caused by other infections, diseases and conditions that went untreated because Arizona hospital beds were full.
- "Those are the forgotten victims of Arizona's COVID pandemic," Humble said.
What we're watching: With the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, life expectancy will likely improve in future reports — as earlier preliminary data suggests.
- Still, both COVID and drug overdoses remain serious public health challenges.