Abstract
IntroductionDementia is currently one of the leading causes of mortality globally, and mortality due to dementia will likely increase in the future along with corresponding increases in population growth and population aging. However, large inconsistencies in coding practices in vital registration systems over time and between countries complicate the estimation of global dementia mortality.MethodsWe meta‐analyzed the excess risk of death in those with dementia and multiplied these estimates by the proportion of dementia deaths occurring in those with severe, end‐stage disease to calculate the total number of deaths that could be attributed to dementia.ResultsWe estimated that there were 1.62 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 0.41–4.21) deaths globally due to dementia in 2019. More dementia deaths occurred in women (1.06 million [0.27–2.71]) than men (0.56 million [0.14–1.51]), largely but not entirely due to the higher life expectancy in women (age‐standardized female‐to‐male ratio 1.19 [1.10–1.26]). Due to population aging, there was a large increase in all‐age mortality rates from dementia between 1990 and 2019 (100.1% [89.1–117.5]). In 2019, deaths due to dementia ranked seventh globally in all ages and fourth among individuals 70 and older compared to deaths from other diseases estimated in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.DiscussionMortality due to dementia represents a substantial global burden, and is expected to continue to grow into the future as an older, aging population expands globally.
Highlights
Dementia is currently one of the leading causes of mortality globally, and mortality due to dementia will likely increase in the future along with corresponding increases in population growth and population aging
We identified 34 studies containing 60 unique estimates on the excess mortality associated with dementia
Of the 14 markers of severe, end-stage disease considered, the fraction of people who had pneumonia in the last year before death out of those who died with dementia was the highest (0.31)
Summary
Dementia is currently one of the leading causes of mortality globally, and mortality due to dementia will likely increase in the future along with corresponding increases in population growth and population aging. Those with dementia and that these conditions are more frequent in those with dementia than in those without dementia, suggesting that dementia may be the underlying cause of death in many of these cases.[3,4,5] oftentimes, these immediate causes of death are listed on the death certificate without mention of dementia.[6]. Previous studies have shown increases over time in the certification of dementia as a cause of death on death certificates, while the estimated prevalence of the disease has remained stable or even decreased.[7,8,9] Comparisons of the certification of dementia deaths on death certificates with information on dementia patients from population-based epidemiological studies have indicated that dementia has been previously underreported on death certificates.[6,10,11,12,13]
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