Global mortality from dementia: Application of a new method and results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

GBD 2019 Collaborators, Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

100 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction
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. However, large inconsistencies in coding practices in vital registration systems over time and between countries complicate the estimation of global dementia mortality.

Methods
We 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.

Results
We 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.

Discussion
Mortality 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.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12200
Number of pages28
JournalAlzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions
Volume7
Issue number1
Early online date27 Jul 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Jul 2021

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