Age at Death and Causes of Death in Patients with Huntington Disease in Norway in 1986-2015

The literature offers discrepant findings regarding age at death in individuals with Huntington disease (HD).

To study the age at death and causes of death in males and females with a diagnosis of HD in Norway.

Registry study of deaths in 1986-2015 using data from two national registries: the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry (NCDR) and the registry of the Centre for Rare Disorders (CRD), Oslo University Hospital.

Mean age at death for individuals with HD was found to be 63.9 years (NCDR) and 61.7 years (CRD), compared to a mean of 76.9 years in the general population (NCDR). There were no significant gender differences for age at death in individuals with HD. The significant increase in age at death within the general population from 1986 to 2015 was not observed in individuals with HD. In 73.5% of individuals with HD, the underlying cause of death was HD, followed by cardiovascular diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases. The most common immediate cause of death was respiratory diseases (44.2%). Suicide was a more common cause of death in the population with HD (2.3%) compared to the general population (1.3%).

The age at death of individuals with HD was stable over a period of 30 years and 13.3 years lower than in the general population. Longer life expectancy for females from the general population was not found in females with HD. Suicide was more common among individuals with HD compared to the general population.