Dementia Death Rates in U.S. Older Adults Fluctuated From 2018 to 2022

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Age-adjusted dementia deaths rates were stable between 2018 and 2019, then increased in 2020 and decreased slightly in 2022, according to a report published in the November Health E-Stats, a publication of the National Center for Health Statistics.

Ellen A. Kramarow, Ph.D., and Betzaida Tejada-Vera, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, present age-adjusted death rates by sex, race and Hispanic origin, and place of death for adults aged 65 years and older with dementia as an underlying cause of death in 2018 to 2022.

The researchers found that the age-adjusted death rates for dementia were stable between 2018 and 2019. From 2019 to 2020, the rate increased by 10.2 percent, from 520.1 to 572.9 per 100,000 standard population, with death rates increasing by 7.1 and 11.8 percent for men and women, respectively. Between 2020 and 2022, there was a decline in death rates to 548.9, which was higher than the 2018 and 2019 rates. For women, dementia death rates declined each year from 2020 to 2022, while for men, rates declined from 2020 to 2021 and were then stable to 2022. Throughout the period, death rates were higher for women than men. During 2018 to 2022, dementia death rates were higher for White non-Hispanic than Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic adults.

Changes were observed in the place where dementia deaths occurred between 2018 and 2022, with a decrease in deaths occurring in nursing homes or long-term care facilities (53.6 to 44.6 percent) and an increase in deaths occurring at home (23.7 to 30.4 percent).

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