PD mortality significantly increased over past 2 decades

Mortality from Parkinson’s disease increased significantly between 1999 and 2019, according to study results published in Neurology.

“An early study in the U.S. population showed that from 1962 to 1984, PD mortality increased notably among persons over 75 years but declined among those younger than 70 years of age,” Shuang Rong, MD, PhD, of the School of Public Health at Wuhan University of Science and Technology in China, and colleagues wrote. “However, to our knowledge, the mortality from PD and its long-term trends in the United States in recent decades remains unknown.

“Updating vital statistics about PD mortality is critical to inform future research, priority setting and financing of health care, and policy,” they added.

In the current study, the researchers sought to pinpoint trends in PD mortality in the U.S. between 1999 and 2019. They analyzed data on 479,059 deaths due to PD included in the National Vital Statistics system, a nationwide, population-based death registry, to examine national trends in PD mortality overall and by age, sex, race/ethnicity, urban-rural classification and geographic location. Via joinpoint regression, they assessed temporal trends in age-standardized death rates.

Results showed an increase in age-adjusted mortality due to PD from 5.4 (95% CI, 5.3-5.5) per 100,000 individuals in 1999 to 8.8 (95% CI, 8.7-8.9) per 100,000 individuals in 2019. The researchers noted an average annual percent change of 2.4% (95% CI, 1.9-3). During the assessed period, all age groups, both sexes, various racial/ethnic groups and different urban-rural classifications exhibited significant increases in PD mortality. Further, Rong and colleagues observed significant differences by sex and race/ethnicity, with age-adjusted PD mortality rates twofold higher among men than women and rates higher among whites than other racial/ethnic groups.

“Accurate estimates of the burden must be obtained to mitigate the impact from an increasing number of individuals living with PD,” the researchers wrote. “Continued monitoring and future investigations are needed to identify the reasons for increased PD mortality and to develop effective approaches to curb this increase.”