2000 to 2019 Saw Decline in Sepsis-Related Death Rates for ≥65s

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) — For adults aged 65 years and older, sepsis-related death rates declined from 2000 through 2019, with higher rates among older adults, among non-Hispanic Blacks, and in rural areas, according to a November data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Ellen A. Kramarow, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, described sepsis-related mortality among adults aged 65 years and older by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and urbanicity.

Kamarow found that from 2000 to 2019, sepsis-related death rates varied, with a decline seen in general over the period (298.8 to 277.4 per 100,000). Sepsis-related death rates in 2019 increased with age, with rates about five times higher for adults aged 85 years and older versus those aged 65 to 74 years (750.0 versus 150.7 per 100,000). The highest sepsis-related death rates were seen among non-Hispanic Black adults compared with non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Asians, and Hispanic adults (377.4 versus 275.7, 180.0, and 246.4 per 100,000, respectively). In 2019, sepsis-related death rates were higher in rural versus urban areas.

“In 2019, the sepsis-related death rate among adults aged 65 and over was 277.4 per 100,000,” Kramarow writes. “Deaths among adults aged 65 and over accounted for approximately 75 percent of all sepsis-related deaths in the United States in 2019.”

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