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Mortality from dementia in Norway, 1969-83
1Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Science, University of Trondheim, Dragvoll, Norway.
Insights
Norwegian death certificates accurately recorded dementia in over 3.5% of deaths between 1969-1983. While underlying dementia death rates rose, contributory cause rates declined, suggesting high-quality data for Alzheimer
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Dementia is a significant cause of mortality worldwide.
- Accurate death certification is crucial for epidemiological studies.
- Previous studies highlight variations in dementia coding on death certificates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze dementia coding on Norwegian death certificates from 1969 to 1983.
- To assess the quality of Norwegian mortality data on dementia.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of death certificates in Norway.
- Categorization of dementia as underlying or contributory cause of death.
- Calculation of mortality rates based on dementia coding.
Main Results:
- Dementia was noted on 21,517 death certificates (3.56% of total deaths).
- Underlying cause dementia death rates increased over the study period.
- Contributory cause dementia death rates declined, indicating improved reporting.
Conclusions:
- Norwegian death certificates show a high proportion of dementia cases.
- Inclusion of contributory causes enhances the quality of dementia mortality data.
- High-quality Norwegian data offers potential for etiological research in Alzheimer's disease.
Abstract:
From 1969 to the end of 1983 in Norway, dementia was coded as the underlying cause of death from 2058 death certificates, and as a contributory cause from 19,459. This is 3.56% of the total number of deaths. It seems that a considerable proportion of dementia cases are noted on death certificates in Norway. Death rates based on dementia as the underlying cause of death have increased with time, but when including contributory causes, rates have declined. The data may be useful in epidemiological studies, eg, to search for aetiological clues for Alzheimer's disease. Due to the inclusion of contributory causes of death in the registers and to the high number of dementia cases noted on death certificates, Norwegian mortality data on dementia are probably of better quality than in most other countries.