Trends in pulmonary embolism mortality rates by age group in the United States, 1999–2019
Ayla Cash, Abdul Mannan Khan Minhas, Vanessa Pasadyn, Salik Nazir, Robert W. Ariss, Rajesh Gupta
Abstract
Introduction: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a major cause of mortality in the United States. Recent reports indicate that PE-related mortality rates have increased among individuals younger than 65 years old. It remains unclear whether this increase in PE-related mortality is evenly distributed. A narrowly focused and clinically meaningful age group analysis is necessary. Methods: Death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research database were examined to determine all-cause PE mortality trends from 1999 to 2019 among adults 25-39, 40-54, 55-69, 70-84, and ≥85 years old. The crude death rates for individual years and annual percentage change (APC) were calculated to determine trends. Results: PE-related mortality rates increased among those 25-39, 40-54, and 55-69. Among individuals 25-39 years old, death rate increased from 1.8 to 2.0 (APC 0.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2 to 1.1]) between 1999 and 2014 and continued to increase from 2.0 to 2.4 (APC 4.1 [95% CI 1.8 to 6.5]) between 2014 and 2019. Among those 40-54 years old, the crude death rate increased from 5.7 to 7.5 (APC 2.0 [95% CI, 1.6 to 2.5]) between 2007 and 2019. Among those 55-69 years old the crude death rate increased from 15.6 to 18.5 (APC 2.2 [95% CI, 1.9 to 2.5]) between 2010 and 2019. Recent death rates decreased or plateaued among individuals older than 70. Conclusions: Individuals younger than 70 years had increase in PE-related mortality between 1999 and 2019 with marked increase among those 25-39 years old.