Trends in Causes of Death Among the Elderly

Author(s):  
Nadine R. Sahyoun ◽  
Harold Lentzner ◽  
Donna Hoyert ◽  
Kristen N. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Michael Anderson ◽  
Corinne Roughley

The principal reported causes of death have changed dramatically since the 1860s, though changes in categorization of causes and improved diagnosis make it difficult to be precise about timings. Diseases particularly affecting children such as measles and whooping cough largely disappeared as killers by the 1950s. Deaths particularly linked to unclean environments and poor sanitary infrastructure also declined, though some can kill babies and the elderly even today. Pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchitis were eventually largely controlled. Reported cancer, stroke, and heart disease mortality showed upward trends well into the second half of the twentieth century, though some of this was linked to diagnostic improvement. Both fell in the last decades of our period, but Scotland still had among the highest rates in Western Europe. Deaths from accidents and drowning saw significant falls since World War Two but, especially in the past 25 years, suicide, and alcohol and drug-related deaths rose.


2019 ◽  
pp. 87-93
Author(s):  
S.S. Filonenko

The article focuses on the study of suicide worldwide and Ukraine in particular. The phenomenon of suicide is relevant in all corners of the world, it affects people of all nations, cultures, religions, articles, and classes. The scientific community in many countries around the world demonstrates indifference to the problem of suicide; Accordingly, suicide is gradually becoming one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Thus, suicide ranks 15th among the leading causes of death. WHO statistics show that suicide is committed twice as often as murder, and emphasizes that this phenomenon is global and reaches critical levels every year. We have analyzed the regulatory framework for suicide at the global level. For example, over the last decades, since 2000, due to the incredible efforts of WHO, this problem has begun to receive national attention. In the developed world, many regulations on suicide prevention have been developed and adopted. In the course of scientific research, we found out that suicide and Ukraine is the seventh cause of death, which confirms the criticality of the problem and the need for its fastest solution. We believe that there is a need today to support such categories of persons as children and young people, servicemen, convicts, and the elderly. The article examines the experience of such foreign countries as the USA, Azerbaijan, Israel, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and other European countries of the world. Finding out what prevention and prevention measures they have implemented in national suicide prevention programs, we see the possibility of their implementation in Ukraine and are convinced of their effectiveness. According to the results of scientific research, we will develop an administrative and legal mechanism for suicide prevention in Ukraine, which can work if all the steps of the algorithm for reducing suicide rates are fulfilled. Keywords: suicide, administrative and legal mechanism, the algorithm of actions, statistics, suicide rate.


Author(s):  
Angela Amorim De Araújo ◽  
Arthur Tibério De Lacerda Vieira ◽  
Ivanilda Lacerda Pedrosa ◽  
Márcia Virgínia Di Lorenzo Florêncio ◽  
Pablo Raphael Oliveira Honorato Da Silva ◽  
...  

Drowning is a global problem, and is among the main causes of death in the world, and the elderly are part of this new reality as a special group who also suffer submersion accidents. The aim of this study was to analyze deaths due to drowning in the elderly in the state of Paraíba from 2005 to 2015. This is a retrospective, descriptive study associated with spatial analysis of regions with a higher incidence of drowning in people aged 60 years or older in the state of Paraíba. Data were collected from the IML (Gemol and Numol) records from 2005 to 2015, totaling 80 cases of drowning. Sociodemographic characteristics such as age group, gender, spatiality and local description of the occurrence (rivers, dams, sea, waterfall, cacimbas, dams and domestic environments), care provider, file of the Legal Medical Institute of the Scientific Police, international code of diseases – ICD 10 (code W74), shift of occurrence. As results we located the region of Mari sector of the wild region of Paraíba – Açude Olho D’agua (Latitude 7.11º S and Longitude 35.2º ), was the place with the highest number of drownings, where dams/lakes (55%), male (91%), married (46%), aged between 60 and 69 years (60%), the local population made the first care (41%), 14h was of higher occurrence (11%), and on Sundays (29%). We can conclude that drowning occurs in several aquatic scenarios, and in this study occurred in fresh water, several factors were associated with drowning in the elderly, such as cognition deficits, polypharmaceuticals and physical limitations, such outcomes can help encourage protection policies for this group as well as family members guide in freshwater regions and accentuate care.


2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. 185-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiramatsu Makoto ◽  

♦ Background Recently, more elderly patients who are independent or able to live at home with the support of family are opting for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). At the end of 2005, the annual statistical survey conducted by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy indicated that the mean age of patients at initiation of dialysis treatment is 66.2 years. Only 3.6% of the overall end-stage renal disease population were treated with CAPD, and this small number of elderly patients was treated with CAPD despite the many merits of peritoneal dialysis (PD) for the elderly. In the present study, we reviewed our experience with patients 65 years of age and older at the start of PD and the results from two multicenter studies on PD treatment in elderly patients in Japan. ♦ Patients and Methods Study 1: Of 313 PD patients at Okayama Saiseikai General Hospital between January 1991 and June 2006, 166 patients 65 years of age and older were studied. The characteristics of these elderly PD patients were reviewed to determine which elderly patients can continue PD for more than 5 years, and what the causes of death and the effects of icodextrin were in elderly PD patients. Study 2: A multicenter study of 421 patients introduced to PD from April 2000 to December 2004 in Japan was carried out by the Japanese Society for Elderly Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis to retrospectively analyze patient survival and technique survival and to find factors that have the potential to influence prognosis in these patients. Study 3: A review of the PD management and nursing-care insurance system (long-term care insurance) targeted patients 65 years of age and older who were initiated onto PD from January 2000 to June 2002 at 82 centers in Japan. The review found 765 patients under the age of 65 years (62.6%), and 458 patients 65 years of age and over (37.4%). Data on 409 elderly PD patients from 73 centers were analyzed. ♦ Results Study 1: In 166 elderly patients, 27 (16.3%; 18 women, 9 men) continued PD for more than 5 years at our hospital. The original disease was chronic glomerulonephritis in 21 patients, diabetic nephropathy in 2 patients, nephrosclerosis in 2 patients, and polycystic kidney disease in 2 patients. The causes of death in the elderly PD patients at our hospital were heart failure (20.3%), cerebrovascular disease (17.7%), myocardial infarction (15.2%), debilitation (12.7%), peritonitis (7.6%), and pneumonia (3.8%). We observed significant differences in ultrafiltration, body weight, sodium, chloride, red blood cells, and hematocrit after using icodextrin in 14 elderly PD patients. Also, use of icodextrin in the daytime helps the family supporting an elderly member on PD by reducing the number of exchanges. Study 2: The average age of 421 patients in 37 hospitals throughout Japan was 76.4 years. Women accounted for 41% of all patients. The average modified (exclusive of factors of aging) Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was 3.7. The modified CCI was an important factor not only in patient survival but also in technique survival. Patient survival was significantly different for the three modified CCI groups (CCI < 3, 3 ≤ CCI < 5, 5 ≤ CCI). Factors that influenced patient survival included patient choice of modality, modified CCI, exchanges performed by family members, and age at the start of PD. Factors that influenced technique survival included patient choice of modality, modified CCI, and exchanges performed by family members. Age at the start of PD was not a significant factor influencing technique survival. Study 3: Most elderly PD patients were living with family; 7% were living alone. At the start of PD, 24% of elderly PD patients were covered by nursing-care insurance, including 11% of young elderly patients (65 – 74 years of age), 35% of old elderly patients (75 – 84 years of age), and 29% of very old elderly patients (85 years of age or older). Patients 75 years of age or older were covered by nursing-care insurance more frequently than were patients under 75 years of age. Nevertheless, at the start of dialysis, fewer than 10% of elderly patients were using nursing-care insurance for PD. ♦ Conclusions In elderly patients, PD has good outcomes, especially in nondiabetic patients, in patients with few comorbidities, and in patients managing PD by themselves. In introducing dialysis in elderly patients, PD should be the treatment of choice. A more secure support system should be established to allow the elderly to choose PD treatment.


1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 671-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromitsu Iwamoto ◽  
Yutaka Kiyohara ◽  
Isao Kato ◽  
Takao Ohmura ◽  
Keizo Nakayama ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman J Vetter

Smoking has been closely implicated in many cardiovascular, lung and other diseases which are prevalent in the elderly, but most prevention programmes tend to be aimed at younger age groups.The prevention of smoking in retired people is a subject which is not yet fully researched, but there is a little information which suggests that it may be a worthwhile pursuit. Certainly, work has shown that longevity can be improved even in older people by stopping smoking. Coronary heart disease death rates for 65-74 year olds who have recently given up are similar to non-smokers. For other causes of death, especially lung cancer and bronchitis, the benefits of stopping smoking take up to five years to appear. In terms of morbidity, there are suggestions that ex-smokers move reasonably quickly towards the state of non-smokers for bone density, pulmonary function and muscle strength.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
Marie-Pier Bergeron-Boucher ◽  
Robert Bourbeau ◽  
Jacques Légaré

The structure of causes of death in Canada has been changing since the onset of the “cardiovascular revolution.” While mortality due to cardiovascular diseases has been declining, mortality due to other causes of death, such as cancers and Alzheimer’s disease has been increasing. Our research investigates how these changes have re-modeled life expectancy at age 65 and age 85, and what specific causes of death are involved. We distinguish between premature and senescent deaths in Canada, using a cause-specific age structure. Our results suggest that although a decline in premature deaths has contributed to increasing life expectancy in recent years, most of the gains in life expectancy at age 65 and 85 have resulted from a decline in senescent deaths. We also find a decline in mortality due to the main causes of death, leading to a greater diversification of causes.Depuis le début de la révolution cardiovasculaire, le Canada a connu d’importants changements dans la distribution des décès selon la cause. La mortalité par maladies cardiovasculaires a connu une importante diminution alors que les taux de mortalité pour les cancers et pour la maladie d’Alzheimer ont augmenté. Cet article examine comment ces changements ont influencé les tendances de l’espérance de vie à 65 et à 85 ans et quelles causes de décès spécifiques furent impliquées. Une distinction entre les décès prématurés et les décès liés à un processus de sénescence est réalisée, se basant sur deux indicateurs de variations par âge des causes de décès. Nos résultats suggèrent que la majorité des gains en espérance de vie à 65 et 85 ans proviennent d’une plus faible mortalité par cause de décès sénescente. De plus, une diminution des principales causes de décès chez les personnes âgées de 65 ans et plus laisse place à une plus grande diversification de causes aux grands âges.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen-Chieh Lee ◽  
Cong-Tat Cia ◽  
Nan-Yao Lee ◽  
Nai-Ying Ko ◽  
Po-Lin Chen ◽  
...  

Introduction. The 2015 dengue outbreak in southern Taiwan caused substantial mortality rates in the elderly. We analyzed here the causes of death among adults with dengue. Methods. The retrospective study was conducted at a medical center in Tainan from the 1st of August to 31th of December in the year 2015. The detection of the dengue NS1 antigen IgM or viral RNA in patients' blood were used to diagnose dengue. Clinical courses and causes of death were retrieved from chart reviews by two intensivists. Results. There were 4,488 cases of dengue diagnosed in the study hospital, and these cases had an in-hospital case fatality rate of 1.34% (60 cases). Of these, the mean age was 73 years and gender did not predict outcome. Twenty-eight (46.7%) cases died of severe dengue, and 29 (48.3%) deaths were possibly caused by dengue-related complications, which were mostly secondary infections (24 cases). Most of the families of fatal case (70%) signed do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders prior to the patients' death. When the dengue epidemic peaked, 13 cardiac arrest events, including out-of-hospital (5 events) and in-hospital (8) cardiac arrests at the emergency department, occurred within four weeks of the dengue epidemic. Notably, in half (7) of these cases, the patients did not search for medical aid prior to experiencing cardiac arrest. Of the 40 cases that had early death (occurring within one week after hospitalization), 60% died of severe dengue. In contrast, 50% of the 20 deaths that occurred later than one week after hospitalization were related to hospital-acquired infections, mainly pneumonia. Conclusion. The elderly that experience dengue fever may die of severe dengue early or die of secondary infections later. Cardiac arrests can also occur unpredictably at the first aids, which highlight the need of professional and patient education regarding the danger signs that are related to severe dengue in an epidemic setting.


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