Danish Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2021;82(4):1609-1618. doi: 10.3233/JAD-201400.
Dementia is associated with increased mortality. However, it is not clear whether causes of death in people with dementia have changed over time.
To investigate if causes of death changed over time in people with dementia compared to the general elderly population.
We included longitudinal data from nationwide registries on all Danish residents aged≥65 years to 110 years who died between 2002 to 2015. We assessed the annual frequency of dementia-related deaths (defined as a dementia diagnosis registered as a cause of death) and of underlying causes of death in people registered with dementia compared to the general elderly population.
From 2002 to 2015, 621,826 people died, of whom 103,785 were diagnosed with dementia. During this period, the percentage of dementia-related deaths increased from 10.1% to 15.2% in women, and from 6.3% to 9.5% in men in the general elderly population. From 2002 to 2015, dementia became the leading, registered underlying cause of death in people diagnosed with dementia. Simultaneously, a marked decline in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular deaths was observed in people with and without dementia.
This is the first study to investigate if the causes of death change over time in people diagnosed with dementia compared with the general elderly population. The increase in the registration of dementia as an underlying cause of death could reflect increasing awareness that dementia is fatal.
痴呆与死亡率增加有关。然而，目前尚不清楚痴呆患者的死因是否随时间发生了变化。
调查与一般老年人群相比，痴呆患者的死因是否随时间发生了变化。
我们纳入了 2002 年至 2015 年期间丹麦所有年龄≥65 岁至 110 岁的居民的全国性登记处的纵向数据。我们评估了与一般老年人群相比，登记有痴呆症的人群中与痴呆相关的死亡（定义为痴呆症诊断被登记为死因）的年度频率以及根本死因的年度频率。
2002 年至 2015 年期间，有 621826 人死亡，其中 103785 人被诊断为痴呆症。在此期间，女性中与痴呆相关的死亡比例从 10.1%增加到 15.2%，男性中从 6.3%增加到 9.5%。在一般老年人群中，痴呆症成为诊断为痴呆症的人群中最主要的登记根本死因。同时，无论是否患有痴呆症，心血管和脑血管死亡人数均明显下降。
这是第一项调查与一般老年人群相比，诊断为痴呆症的人群的死因是否随时间发生变化的研究。痴呆症作为根本死因的登记数量增加可能反映了人们越来越认识到痴呆症是致命的。
