Cardiovascular mortality trends and disparities among older adults (≥65 years) with type 2 diabetes in the United States: a CDC WONDER database analysis, 1999–2023
Authors' conclusion
Cardiovascular mortality among older adults with type 2 diabetes increased over 25 years, with a devastating acceleration during 2019-2021 that temporally coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistent sex-, racial-, and geographic-based disparities, combined with evolving cardiovascular mortality patterns, underscore the imperative for targeted interventions addressing the fundamental social determinants of health underlying these inequities.
Study context
- Population
- US adults ≥65 years with T2D, cardiovascular deaths with T2D as contributing cause, stratified by sex, age group, race/ethnicity and region
- Participants
- 529,472 cardiovascular deaths
- Outcome
- Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) for cardiovascular deaths with T2D as a contributing cause
- Follow-up
- 1999–2023
Methodological detailsCDC WONDER database analysis, 25-year trends 1999–2023
- CDC WONDER database analysis
- 25-year trends 1999–2023
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Mortality increase during 2019–2021, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic
26.2%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) by sex
- Men consistently had higher AAMR and steeper increases
AAMR by race/ethnicity · 2023
- Hispanic older adults shifted from third-highest to highest AAMR by 2023
AAMR by geography
- States with elevated mortality concentrated in West and Midwest
Causes of cardiovascular death
- AF emerged as 5th leading cause; increase in AAMR
- 624.7%
- Atherosclerotic heart disease remained the leading cause
Original publication
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