Washington State abdominal aortic aneurysm-related mortality shows a steady decline between 1996 and 2016

Management of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has undergone considerable advances over the last two decades. Our aim was to evaluate AAA-related mortality trends in Washington State over a 21-year period and to assess variation in AAA-related mortality by sex, race, and county over the same time period. We hypothesized that a significant decrease in AAA-related mortality in Washington State would be noted.

Death certificate records were obtained from the Washington State Department of Health from 1996 to 2016. Records in which AAA was listed as an underlying or associated cause of death were selected for analysis. Age-standardized mortality rates for each year were calculated using the 2016 Washington State population as the standard. Mortality trends were compared by sex and race using linear regression. County-specific age-standardized ruptured AAA (rAAA) mortality rates were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test.

Of the 1,014,039 deaths occurring in Washington State during the study period, 4438 (0.4%) had AAA listed as an underlying or associated cause of death (66.1% male; 94.8% white; mean age at death, 79.4 ± 9.3 years). In 64.1% of the cases, AAA was listed as the underlying cause of death. AAA-related mortality rates decreased by 62.1% over the 21 years from 5.8 to 2.2 deaths per 100,000. Notably, there was a statistically significant decrease in rAAA-related mortality rates (from 3.2 to 0.95 per 100,000, a decrease of 0.12 deaths/100,000/year; 95% confidence interval, 0.11-0.14; r² = 0.95). Men had a significantly steeper decrease in age-standardized AAA-related mortality rates with a 55% decrease (from 6.5 to 3.0 per 100,000) vs a 41% decrease (2.4 to 1.4 per 100,000) among women. Men were younger at the time of death than women (78.1 ± 9.4 years vs 81.9 ± 8.6 years, respectively; P < .001). Individuals who were white had a significantly steeper decrease in age-standardized AAA-related mortality rates with a 53% decrease (from 5.3 to 2.5 per 100,000) compared with a 13% decrease among individuals who were nonwhite (from 1.5 to 1.3 per 100,000). Age-standardized rAAA-related mortality rates varied by county (P < .001).

Age-standardized AAA-related mortality rate has decreased in Washington State between 1996 and 2016, with a notable decrease in the rAAA-related mortality rate. The decrease in AAA-related mortality rates varied by sex and race. Additionally, rAAA-related mortality rates differed between counties. These observations are a first step toward regional population assessments. Future work to understand the sources of variation can influence public health interventions on a state level.