Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems, World Health Organization, 20 avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland .
Bull World Health Organ. 2013 Sep 1;91(9):630-9. doi: 10.2471/BLT.12.109710.
To describe mortality patterns in women older than 50 years in light of the growth, seen in almost all countries, in the absolute number of females in this age group and in the proportion of the female population comprising older women.
National death record data and World Health Organization estimates of life expectancy and causes of death in women older than 50 years were analysed. Projections of trends in mortality, by cause, at older ages were also made.
In both developed and developing countries, the leading causes of death among older women were cardiovascular diseases and cancers. In countries with death registration data, cardiovascular and (to a lesser extent) cancer mortality appears to have declined in older women in recent decades and this decline has resulted in improved life expectancy at age 50. If these trends continue, deaths in older women are still expected to increase in number because of population growth and ageing.
Noncommunicable diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases and cancers, are expected to cause an increasing share of women's deaths in low- and middle-income countries owing to the ageing of the population and to reductions in child and maternal deaths. Health systems must adjust accordingly, perhaps by drawing on lessons from high-income countries that have succeeded in reducing mortality from noncommunicable diseases.
根据几乎所有国家 50 岁以上女性绝对人数的增长以及女性人口中老年女性的比例，描述 50 岁以上女性的死亡率模式。
分析了国家死亡记录数据以及世界卫生组织对 50 岁以上女性预期寿命和死因的估计。还对老年人各种死因的死亡率趋势进行了预测。
在发达国家和发展中国家，老年女性的主要死因是心血管疾病和癌症。在有死亡登记数据的国家，近几十年来，老年女性的心血管疾病（以及在较小程度上的癌症）死亡率似乎有所下降，这导致了 50 岁时预期寿命的提高。如果这些趋势持续下去，由于人口增长和老龄化，老年女性的死亡人数预计仍将增加。
由于人口老龄化以及儿童和孕产妇死亡率的降低，非传染性疾病，尤其是心血管疾病和癌症，预计将在中低收入国家导致女性死亡人数的比例增加。卫生系统必须做出相应调整，或许可以借鉴那些成功降低非传染性疾病死亡率的高收入国家的经验。
