Alzheimer's Disease Deaths in Light of Aging Populations: District of Columbia, 2002-2012

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer’s disease has appeared in the District of Columbia (DC) ten leading causes of death since 2005. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia; it causes problems with memory, cognitive functioning, and behavior. Risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases with age, reaching nearly 50 percent after age 85. This study examined trends in Alzheimer’s disease deaths in the context of changes in the population age distribution. 

METHODS: Over a decade of mortality data from DC resident death certificates and DC population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau—2002 to 2012—were analyzed for trends in aging populations, numbers of deaths and crude death rates for Alzheimer’s disease (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision; ICD-10; code G30). Rates were calculated as the number of deaths per 100,000 population per year. Data were examined by age group (i.e., 65-74 years, 75-84 years, and 85 years and older), sex, and race (i.e., black/African American and white). All analyses were performed using SAS version 9.3.

RESULTS: The number of DC adults aged 85 years and older increased from 8,853 in 2002 to 11,003 in 2012, 24.3 percent. Similarly, there was a 35.8 percent increase in the number of Alzheimer’s disease deaths, and the crude death rate increased steadily from 16.4, in 2002, to 20.4, in 2012. On average, females had a crude mortality rate of Alzheimer’s disease nearly three times higher than males, 26.0 and 9.8, respectively. From 2002 to 2012, there were five and fifteen times as many Alzheimer’s deaths among decedents aged 75-84 years and 85 years and older, respectively, compared to decedents aged 65-74 years, corresponding with 11-year aggregated mortality rates of 110.1, 806.4, and 13.9, respectively. On average, 61.3 percent and 37.7 percent of Alzheimer’s deaths in DC were among black/African Americans and whites, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Adults aged 85 years and older are at the greatest risk of Alzheimer’s disease and had the most substantial increase in the DC population. Additionally, females and black/African Americans have the highest burden of Alzheimer’s disease deaths. As the population ages and life expectancy increases, it is imperative to enhance efforts to monitor emerging causes of death like Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.