Deaths from arthritis and other rheumatic conditions, US, 1979-1998

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J Rheumatol. 2004 Sep;31(9):1823-8.

Deaths from arthritis and other rheumatic conditions, United States,

1979-1998.

Sacks JJ, Helmick CG, Langmaid G.

Arthritis Program, Health Care and Aging Studies Branch, Division of

Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease

Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze US trends in deaths from arthritis and other

rheumatic conditions (AORC). METHODS: Multiple cause of death tapes from

the National Center for Health Statistics from 1979 to 1998 were

reviewed. Age, sex, and race-specific death rates were calculated.

RESULTS: During 1979-1998, the annual number of AORC deaths rose from

5537 to 9367. In 1979, the crude death rate from AORC was 2.46 per

100,000 population; by 1998, it was 3.48. Rates age-standardized to the

year 2000 population were 2.75 and 3.51, respectively. Annual crude and

age-standardized death rates were higher among women than men and higher

among blacks than whites and increased for all groups over the 20 years.

Death rates were dramatically higher with increasing age. Three

categories of AORC accounted for almost 80% of deaths: diffuse

connective tissue diseases (34%), other specified rheumatic conditions

(23%), and rheumatoid arthritis (22%).

CONCLUSION: There are marked age, sex, and race-specific disparities in

AORC death rates. AORC death rates may be underestimated because of (1)

nonrecognition of inflammatory arthritis and (2) attribution of cause of

death to conditions made more likely by arthritis, e.g., cardiovascular

disease, or to complications from arthritis therapy. Further research

into the causes of the disparities in death rates and the increase in

death rates for men, women, blacks, and whites is necessary.

PMID: 15338507

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=15338507 & itool=iconabstr

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