Deaths by suicide are declining in Iowa, while syphilis cases continue to rise

Deaths by suicide in Iowa dropped significantly in 2023 for the first time in nearly a decade, according to updated data from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which also showed an increase in teen suicides.

The data, as part of the Iowa Public Health Tracking Portalalso showed immunization rates, statistics on births and deaths in the state, rates of sexually transmitted infections and the best baby names for 2023.

The portal is a centralized hub for public health data across the state. The majority of the metrics monitored are Nationally Consistent Data Measures, which are established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and allow data to be compared from state to state.

The data visualizations are regularly updated with new figures as the department processes the information. Below you will find some updates to the portal from fall 2024.

Vaccination records

The percentage of the population that has received a flu vaccination has increased decreased since 2020 for Iowans under 65. However, 64% of Iowans over the age of 65 received a flu vaccine in the 2023-2024 flu season, significantly more than in the 2021-2022 year, when only 41% of that age group received a flu shot.

Nearly 34% of all Iowans, regardless of age, received a flu vaccine in the 2023-2024 flu season.

Less than 16% of Iowans received one Covid-19 vaccine in the 2023-2024 flu season, with the majority of immunized Iowans living in urban areas such as Polk or Johnson counties.

Essential data

The ages of mothers and fathers do increased steadily since 2006, with the average age for Iowa mothers, or parent A, being 29 years old, and fathers, or parent B, being 31 years old in 2023.

Almost 100 more males than females were born in Iowa in 2023. So are live birth and death rates remained stable in Iowa for the past twenty years.

In 2023, 161 female babies were given the name Charlotte and 194 male babies were given the first name Oliver, these were the top names of the year.

The percentage of premature birth remained flat between 2022 and 2023, but has increased by 1.6% since 2000. And a total of 36,505 babies were born in Iowa in 2023, about 1,000 fewer babies than were born in 2019. according to the department.

Heart disease was the number one cause of death in Iowafollowed by cancer in 2023. Cancer as a cause of death has fallen slightly since 2013, while the death rate from heart disease has remained about the same, at about 18 per 10,000 people.

Other leading causes of death in 2023 and over the past two decades include cerebrovascular disease (including stroke), chronic lower respiratory diseases, and unintentional injuries, including transportation accidents and natural disasters.

The 2023 data also shows that men were reported most of these causes die at higher rates than women.

Suicide deaths in Iowa dropped to fewer than 500 in 2023, for the first time since 2018. The number peaked in 2022, with nearly 600 reported suicide deaths in Iowa.

The teen suicide rate however, for the state has increased from 3.1% in 2022 to 5.2% in 2023. County-specific data is also available on the state data portal, which shows that teens in Polk County are dying by suicide at a higher rate than the state as a whole.

The website says, “suicide is many times more common than murder in the state and can affect any Iowan regardless of age, location or other factors.”

Sexually transmitted infections

The fall data update also included 2,023 cases of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis in the state.

Chlamydia is the most common of the three, although the number of cases has decreased by about 1,000 as of 2022. Gonorrhea cases have also decreased, but cases of syphilis in the state have increased dramatically from less than 300 cases in 2018 to nearly 950 cases in 2023.

This is not unique to Iowa, but syphilis cases have been increasing nationally according to NPR is linked to increased substance abuse, decreased condom use, and a lack of testing, or access to testing, for sexually transmitted infections.