Mortality Related to Pneumonia and Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Study

Pneumonia is a major cause of mortality, and its association with diabetes mellitus (DM) remains underexplored. Understanding this relationship is essential to identifying high-risk populations and developing targeted public health interventions.

To analyze mortality trends and demographic disparities in pneumonia with DM as a contributing cause using the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Multiple Causes of Death (MCD) database from 1999 to 2020.

A retrospective observational study was conducted using the CDC MCD database to assess mortality trends in individuals aged 25 years and older in the United States from 1999 to 2020. The study included deaths where pneumonia (International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10): J18) was listed as the underlying cause and DM (ICD-10: E10-E14) as a contributing cause. Data were analyzed by age, gender, race, geographic region, and place of death. Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) and annual percentage change (APC) were calculated.

A total of 59,291 deaths were recorded. The AAMR for pneumonia with DM as a contributing cause initially showed a rising trend from 1999 to 2002 with an APC of 3.90% (p < 0.05). However, from 2002 to 2018, the AAMR began declining significantly with an APC of -4.56% (p < 0.05). Deaths were more common in females (51.1%) and White individuals (82.0%). Most deaths occurred in metropolitan areas (79.5%) and medical facilities (70.9%).

These findings highlight the need for integrated DM management and pneumonia prevention strategies. Targeted vaccination programs and early respiratory infection management could help reduce mortality in high-risk groups.