Marron MM, et al. - In this longitudinal cohort study, researchers investigated the causes of death that are higher in black vs white community-dwelling older adults and examined whether differences in baseline risk factors could explain racial differences in mortality. Black and white men and women aged 70-79 years at the time of study enrollment (N=3,075) were followed for a median of 13 years. Researchers found that black participants died at higher rates from kidney disease, cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with white participants. They also observed that poorer physical and cognitive performance at baseline among black participants revealed most of the racial difference in risks of dying from kidney disease, stroke, and CVD but not cancer. Results of this study suggested that factors contributing to poorer physical and cognitive performance in similarly aged black men and women could be targets to decrease excess mortality from CVD, stroke, and kidney disease.