Mortality statistics are frequently used to measure the health status of a population (1) and to assess the importance of public health problems. However, for most diseases, crude and age-adjusted death rates are primarily influenced by deaths among the elderly. Although years of potential life lost (YPLL) is one approach that has been used to identify causes of premature death (2), the results of YPLL analysis are subject to certain limitations (3). As an alternative approach to identifying causes of premature death, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) analyzed age- and sex-specific death rates among Utah residents during 1988-1992. This report summarizes the results of that analysis and compares findings with national data.