FROM MMWR
The rate of death attributable to Alzheimer’s disease increased by more than 50% from 1999 to 2014 in the United States, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to data collected from the National Vital Statistics System, the total number of Alzheimer’s deaths was 44,536 in 1999 and 93,541 in 2014. The mortality in 1999 was 16.5 per 100,000 people, and in 2014 it was 25.4 per 100,000 people, a rate increase of 54.5%. Alzheimer’s was the sixth most common cause of death in 2014, accounting for 3.6% of all U.S. deaths.
The largest increase in mortality during the study period was a 151.4% rise in Alzheimer’s deaths among Asians and Pacific Islanders (from 4.8 to 12.2 per 100,000 people) and a 107.2% increase in Alzheimer’s deaths in Hispanics (from 9.6 to 19.8 per 100,000 people). While non-Hispanic whites had the smallest increase at 53.6%, their mortality of 26.8 per 100,000 people in 2014 remained the highest among reported ethnicities.
Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Tennessee had mortality increases of more than 100%; Mississippi’s 164.1% increase from 13.3 to 35.2 per 100,000 people was the greatest during the study period. Maine, Montana, and Maryland saw decreases in mortality, with the percentages falling 23.5%, 9.9%, and 6.1%, respectively.
“An increasing number of Alzheimer’s deaths coupled with an increasing number of patients dying at home suggests that there is an increasing number of caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s. It is likely that these caregivers might benefit from interventions such as education, respite care, and case management that can lessen the potential burden of caregiving,” the CDC investigators concluded.
Find the full study in MMWR (2017;66[20]:521-6).
