scholarly journals Causes of Death Among 9000 Danish Centenarians and Semisuper-Centenarians in the 1970–2012 Period

Author(s):  
Lasse Kaalby ◽  
Axel Skytthe ◽  
Karen Andersen-Ranberg ◽  
Bernard Jeune

AbstractAs most centenarians suffer from multiple diseases, they are at high risk of dying – but what do they ultimately die of? This question has scarcely been examined. We have carried out a register-based study of the causes of death (CoD) among Danish centenarians. Among 8559 centenarian deaths in the 1970–2012 period, the most common CoD was in the category of cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD); at the end of the study period, this CoD accounted for one-third of the deaths in this age group. The mortality rate for CVD as an underlying CoD was more than halved during the period (from 358 to 170 per 1000 person-years). In contrast, the mortality rate for cancer remained stable during the whole period, but at a very low level (15–20 per 1000 person-years). Cancer made up a much smaller share of underlying CoDs among this age group (3–4%) than among 85–99-year-olds (15%). The mortality rate for pneumonia remained at a constant level (about 50 per 1000 person-years) of around 10% among centenarians and 5% among 85–99-year-olds. The underlying CoD groups that were reported with increasing frequency during the period were mental diseases, including dementia, which increased sevenfold; and ill-defined conditions/senility, which increased fourfold. The latter CoD group accounted for 28% of deaths among centenarians in the most recent years, and for more than one-third of deaths among semi-supercentenarians (aged 105–109). The increase in the proportion of deaths for which the CoD was listed as ill-defined conditions/senility was probably partly due to the under-diagnosis of diseases among centenarians, especially of heart diseases. However, a substantial proportion of these deaths may have been attributable to “old age” – i.e., a combination of several diseases and organ deficiencies – and not to a single underlying cause.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-344
Author(s):  
Viorela Diaconu ◽  
Nadine Ouellette ◽  
Robert Bourbeau

AbstractThe U.S. elderly experience shorter lifespans and greater variability in age at death than their Canadian peers. In order to gain insight on the underlying factors responsible for the Canada-U.S. old-age mortality disparities, we propose a cause-of-death analysis. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to compare levels and trends in cause-specific modal age at death (M) and standard deviation above the mode (SD(M +)) between Canada and the U.S. since the 1970s. We focus on six broad leading causes of death, namely cerebrovascular diseases, heart diseases, and four types of cancers. Country-specific M and SD(M +) estimates for each leading cause of death are calculated from P-spline smooth age-at-death distributions obtained from detailed population and cause-specific mortality data. Our results reveal similar levels and trends in M and SD(M +) for most causes in the two countries, except for breast cancer (females) and lung cancer (males), where differences are the most noticeable. In both of these instances, modal lifespans are shorter in the U.S. than in Canada and U.S. old-age mortality inequalities are greater. These differences are explained in part by the higher stratification along socioeconomic lines in the U.S. than in Canada regarding the adoption of health risk behaviours and access to medical services.


1954 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Daw

Medical and social progress over the past 50 years has resulted in a large increase in the expectation of life, and this, together with a declining birthrate, has caused an increase in the proportion of old persons in the population. In 1901 less than 5% of the population of England and Wales was aged 65 and over; by 1949 the estimated percentage had increased to 11% and must inevitably increase still further in the future. A result of this is that more and more attention is being given to diseases of old age and in fact a new specialized branch of medicine, geriatrics, seems to have arisen. Heart diseases form by far the largest group of causes of death in old age and in 1949 were the certified cause of death in 37% of the deaths in England and Wales at ages 65 and over (Table 1). Even in the age-group 55-59 heart disease was responsible for 24% of all deaths in 1949.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-20
Author(s):  
Tirtha Man Shrestha ◽  
Ramesh P Aacharya ◽  
Ram P Neupane ◽  
Bigyan Prajapati

Introduction: Emergency services are the gateway between the community and hospital that provides 24-hour access for most needy patients in critical and emergency conditions. Mortality rate varies in emergency department across the world and even in different emergency units of the same hospital. This retrospective study was done in adult emergency services of a tertiary hospital to determine mortality rate and analyze causes of death. Methods: A retrospective observational study of mortality cases to analyze mortality rate and causes of death of patients for a period of 6 months between October 2017 to March 2018 was carried out in the adult emergency services of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu. Data required were collected from copies of death certificates. Results: During the study period, a total of 128 patients died in emergency, accounting 0.5% of total patient. Male deaths (52.3%) were slightly higher compared to female deaths (47.7%). Age group 66-75 years had the highest (24.2%) of total mortalities in the emergency. The most common immediate cause of death was sepsis/septic shock (21.9%) followed by cardiopulmonary arrest, aspiration, respiratory failure, other causes of shock and poisoning. The commonest antecedent cause of death was attributed to respiratory causes. Similarly, the most common contributory cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Conclusion: Older age group is prone to the mortality risk. Sepsis/septic shock was the most common immediate cause of death. Pneumonia was the most common antecedent causes of death. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was the commonest contributory cause.


CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S100-S100
Author(s):  
J. French ◽  
C. Somayaji ◽  
D. Dutton ◽  
S. Benjamin ◽  
P. Atkinson

Introduction: The New Brunswick Trauma Registry is a database of injury admissions from eight hospitals throughout the province. Data tracks individuals in-hospital. By linking this information with vital statistics, we are able to observe outcomes post-discharge and can model health outcomes for participants. We want to know how outcomes for trauma patients compare with the general population post discharge. Methods: Using data from 2014-15, we followed over 2100 trauma registry observations for one year and tracked mortality rate per 1,000 people by age-group. We also compared the outcomes of this group to all Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) entries in the province (circa. 7500 total). We tracked mortality in-hospital, at six months, and one year after discharge. We truncated age into groups aged 40-64, 65-84, and 85 or older. Results: In-hospital mortality among those in the trauma registry is approximately 20 per 1,000 people for those age 40-64, 50 per 1,000 people for those aged 65-84, and 150 per 1,000 people aged 85 or older. For the oldest age group this is in line with the expected population mortality rate, for the younger two groups these estimates are approximately 2-4 times higher than expected mortality. The mortality at six-month follow-up for both of the younger groups remains higher than expected. At one-year follow-up, the mortality for the 65-84 age group returns to the expected population baseline, but is higher for those age 40-64. Causes of death for those who die in hospital are injury for nearly 50% of observations. After discharge, neoplasms and heart disease are the most common causes of death. Trends from the DAD are similar, with lower mortality overall. Of note, cardiac causes of death account for nearly as many deaths in the 6 months after the injury in the 40 -64 age group as the injury itself. Conclusion: Mortality rates remain high upon discharge for up to a year later for some age groups. Causes of death are not injury-related. Some evidence suggests that the injury could have been related to the eventual cause of death (e.g., dementia), but questions remain about the possibility for trauma-mitigating care increasing the risk of mortality from comorbidities. For example, cardiac death, which is largely preventable, is a significant cause of death in the 40-64 age group after discharge. Including an assessment of Framingham risk factors as part of the patients rehabilitation prescription may reduce mortality.


2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Beechey-Newman ◽  
D Kulkarni

As the number of people living to reach old age increases, so the proportion of cancers presenting in this age group increases to an even greater degree. Although 70% of all cancers in men and women occur over the age of 65 and in the over-75s, who are perhaps more appropriately classified as ‘elderly’, the figures are still very high (46% of all cancers occur in women over 75 and 35% in men over 75). As a consequence, cancer is rapidly becoming a problem of late life, and the management of patients in old age is an important part of general oncology. The magnitude of the overlap between old age and cancer is increasing because of improved life expectancy, more sensitive methods of diagnosing cancer and the biological fact that most cancers occur more commonly with increasing age. It is interesting, however, to put these figures into a more general context by examining the different causes of death in older patients by decade.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 443
Author(s):  
Masaki Bando ◽  
Nobuyuki Miyatake ◽  
Hiroaki Kataoka ◽  
Hiroshi Kinoshita ◽  
Naoko Tanaka ◽  
...  

Objective: The proportion of elderly individuals (≥65 years old) in Japan has markedly increased. However, the definition of senility in Japan is controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate changes and variations in the number of deaths due to senility in Japan. Methods: Information on the number of deaths due to senility between 1995 and 2018 as well as other major causes of death was obtained from the Statistics Bureau of Japan official website. Changes and variations in the number of deaths due to senility were compared with other major causes of death in Japan. The relationships between the number of deaths due to senility and socioeconomic factors were also examined in an ecological study. Results: The number of deaths due to senility was 35.7 ± 23.2/one hundred thousand people/year during the observation period and has continued to increase. A change point was identified in 2004 by a Jointpoint regression analysis. Variations in the number of deaths due to senility, which were evaluated by a coefficient of variation, were significantly greater than those due to other major causes of death, i.e., malignant neoplasm, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and pneumonia. The number of elderly individuals (≥65 years old) (%) and medical bills per elderly subject (≥75 years old) correlated with the number of deaths due to senility. Conclusion: The number of deaths due to senility has been increasing, particularly since 2004. However, variations in the number of deaths due to senility were observed among all prefectures in Japan.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Wang ◽  
Maolin Du ◽  
Zhihui Hao ◽  
Hairong Zhang ◽  
Qing Zhang ◽  
...  

<p>The objective of our study was to identify the causes of death in children &lt;15 years of age in Inner Mongolia and to examine the age-specific causes of death. Study data from 2008–2012 were obtained from the Death Registry System that is maintained by the Inner Mongolia Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mortality rate (per 100,000) for children &lt;15 years of age was calculated and stratified by age in different years. We computed the proportion of age-specific causes of death for children &lt;15 years that occurred between 2008 and 2012 across eight monitoring points in Inner Mongolia. We used a log-linear model to analyze the year and age effects on childhood mortality. From 2008-2012, the standardized mortality of children &lt;15 years of age was 42.78/100,000. The mortality rate was not significantly different from 2008 to 2012 (p&gt;0.05); the mortality rate was the highest in the &lt;1-year age group (p&lt;0.05); and the mortality rate of the &lt;1-year age group was higher in 2012 compared to that in 2009 (p&lt;0.05), 2010 (p&lt;0.05), and 2011 (p&lt;0.05). In children aged 1-14 years, the leading cause of death was injuries, among which transport accident injuries were the most prevalent. To reduce the childhood mortality rate in Inner Mongolia, China, we should focus on the prevention of perinatal deaths in infants &lt;1 year of age and on the prevention of transport accident injuries among older children (1-14 years).</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Genowska ◽  
Jacek Jamiołkowski ◽  
Magdalena Zalewska ◽  
Ewa Rodakowska ◽  
Kamila Kurpiewska ◽  
...  

Abstract The youngest population in society is recognized as that at the healthiest stage of life but is burdened by the occurrence of premature death that should be avoidable. There is a need to use adequate statistical methods in assessing the health status of the population of developmental age. The aim of the study was to analyze trends of mortality in children and adolescents by age and gender in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the years 2003-2012 by joinpoint regression and to identify the causes of mortality. The mortality rate was analysed according to gender and the age groups: 0, 1-4, 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19 years in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The data were obtained from the Central Statistical Office for the period 2003-2012. Differences in mortality levels between age and gender subgroups were obtained by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Join- point regression was used to analyze the trends in mortality. The nomenclature of ICD-10 was used to assess the causes of mortality of children and adolescents. In the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the years 2003-2012 in the 0-19-year-old age group, the highest proportion of deaths (42.4%) occurred during the first year of life. There were differences in mortality rates between boys (8.0/104) and girls (3.1/104) in the 15-19-year-old age group (p < 0.01), and also between the 1-14-year-old and 15-19-year-old age groups (p < 0.01), both among boys (2.1/104 vs. 8.0/104) and girls (1.5/104 vs. 3.1/104). Monotonous trends were shown regarding total mortality rates in infants. There was a drop in the mortality rate of infant girls (AAPC = 5.3%, p < 0.05) and boys (AAPC = 4.7%, p < 0.05). Changes in the direction of the total mortality rate trend were visible in the population of boys aged 1-14 years, in which, between 2003 and 2010, a significant reduction in mortality (AAPC = 9.5%) was observed, while in the years 2010-2012 the trend was not significant. No statistical evidence was found that mortality changed among girls in the 1-14-year-old and 15-19-year-old age groups. Deaths in infancy were due to perinatal conditions and congenital mal- formations. The main causes of mortality in the 1-19-year-old age group were external causes, mainly traffic accidents and intentional self-harm. Joinpoint regression indicated a uniform decrease of mortality in the years 2003-2012 except for boys from 1-14 years old, for whom the decreasing trend was for the years 2003-2010 with subsequent stabilization. The main problems are still infant deaths due to perinatal conditions, traffic accidents and intentional self-harm in boys in the 15-19-year-old age group.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Okayama ◽  
Nagako Okuda ◽  
Hirotsugu Ueshima

Objective: To examine the recent mortality trends of coronary heart disease (CHD), we compared the age specific CHD mortality trends in Japan and in urban and in the rest of Japan, respectively using Vital Statistics. Methods and Results: We compared CHD mortality rates in all Japan, the urban population (20 million) and in the rest of Japan (100 million) from 1969 to 2007 for 30 to 69 years of age. In 1969 [[Unable to Display Character: &#8209;]] 1970, the age[[Unable to Display Character: &#8209;]]adjusted CHD mortality rate was 57.7 per 100,000 for men and 25.9 for women in Japan, and was the same as those of the urban population (59.2 for men and 26.8 for women) and the rest of Japan (57.3 for men and 25.9 for women). The CHD mortality rate in the rest of Japan decreased to 28.4 for men and 7.6 for women in 2006-2007. Although CHD mortality rate in the urban population also decreased to 39.9 for men and 10.1 for women in 2006 - 2007, the decline was much smaller. Trends in age-specific CHD mortality rates was compared between Period I (1969 - 1978), Period II (1981- 1994) and period III (1996 - 2007). Among men in Japan and in the rest of Japan, the decline in the mortality rate for the 30 to 49[[Unable to Display Character: &#8209;]]year[[Unable to Display Character: &#8209;]]old[[Unable to Display Character: &#8209;]]age group was initially observed in Period I and II, and has turned to increase significantly (p<0.001) in the Period III while continuous declining trends in 50-59 and 60-69 year old-age-group. Trends in urban population went ahead, changes in the declining trends was observed both the Period II and III among 30-49 year-old-age group and period III among 50-59 year-old-age group while continuous decline was observed among 60-69 year-old-age group. Similar trends were observed among women. These trends coincide with the increase in the fat intake mainly among younger generation. Conclusions: Observed increase in CHD mortality of men in Japan among younger generation proceeded by those in the urban population may predict the future increase in CHD mortality in Japan.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansol Chang ◽  
Ji Young Min ◽  
Dajeong Yoo ◽  
Sung Yeon Hwang ◽  
Hee Yoon ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Injury is a leading cause of both mortality and moderate and severe disability. Injury is preventable, and there had been many injury prevention strategies in the past. Age is one factor that affects injury characteristics. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the national prevalence of injury by age groups to probe new injury prevention strategies. METHODS This data was collected retrospectively from the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) in South Korea, including patient data who visit 25 emergency departments between January 2011 and December 2017. Patients were divided into four groups by age: 18 to 34 years as group 1; 35 to 49 years, group 2; 50 to 64 years, group 3; 65 years and over, group 4. RESULTS A total of 1,221,746 patients were included, and each age group had a different injury pattern. Group 3 injury outcomes and injured body parts are similar to Group 4. This is why old age injury prevention strategies should be devised right from middle age and not after old age. Interestingly, in our study, Group 4 and Group 1 both were unlikely to have worn seatbelt when traffic injury occurred, which is different compared to other country studies. CONCLUSIONS In our study, each age group shows diverse characteristics in the mode of injury, place, time, and outcome and Group3, which represents late middle age, shows increased vulnerability. Therefore, it is imperative that all age groups have their own injury prevention method and more caution is needed in late middle age injury. CLINICALTRIAL This data was collected retrospectively from the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) in South Korea.This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Samsung Medical Center, IRB No. 2020-05-042.


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