Epidemiology and Health

Original Articles

Overall and cause-specific mortality in patients with dementia: a population-based cohort study in Taiwan: Chia-Lun Kuo, Pei-Chen Lee, Li-Jung Elizabeth Ku, Yu Sun, Tsung-Hsueh Lu, Muhammad Atoillah Isfandiari, Chung-Yi Li; Epidemiol Health. 2023;45:e2023082. Published online August 31, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2023082

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Abstract Summary PDF Supplementary Material: Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Information regarding the underlying causes of death (UCODs) and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of dementia is instrumental in formulating medical strategies to prolong life in persons with dementia (PWD). We examined the leading UCODs among PWD and estimated the overall and cause-specific SMRs in relation to dementia in Taiwan.
METHODS
Data were retrieved from 2 national datasets: the Taiwan Death Registry and the medical claim datasets of the National Health Insurance program. The observed person-years for each study participant were counted from the date of cohort enrollment to either the date of death or the final day of 2016. Sex-specific and age-specific SMRs were then calculated.
RESULTS
The leading UCOD was circulatory disease, accounting for 26.0% of total deaths (n=3,505), followed by respiratory disease at 21.3% (n=2,875). PWD were at significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (SMR, 2.01), with SMR decreasing with advancing age. A cause-specific analysis revealed that the highest SMRs were associated with nervous system diseases (SMR, 7.58) and mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders (SMR, 4.80). Age appeared to modify SMR, suggesting that younger age at cohort enrollment was linked to higher SMRs for nearly all causes of mortality.
CONCLUSIONS
Circulatory and respiratory diseases were the leading UCODs among PWD. The particularly elevated mortality due to nervous system diseases and mental disorders suggests that allocating more resources to neurological and psychiatric services is warranted. The elevated SMRs of various UCODs among younger PWD underscore the need for clinicians to pay particular attention to the medical care provided to these patients.; Summary

Key Message
Circulatory diseases were the leading causes of death in patients with dementia (PWD) in Taiwan, which accounted for 26% of the total deaths, followed by diseases of the respiratory system (21.32%). PWD were at a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (SMR: 2.01). A greater increase in cause specific SMR was noted for nervous system diseases (SMR: 7.58) and mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders (SMR: 4.80). Age tended to modify the SMRs in PWD, which indicated the younger the age of cohort enrollment was, the higher the SMRs of nearly all causes of mortality were.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases the severity of non-fatal injuries, but not the risk of fatal injuries, among driver victims of motor vehicle crashes in Taiwan: I-Lin Hsu, Wen-Hsuan Hou, Ya-Hui Chang, Chung-Yi Li; Epidemiol Health. 2022;44:e2022076. Published online September 16, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022076

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Abstract Summary PDF Supplementary Material: Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Limited information is available on whether diabetes increases the severity of injuries from motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). This study aimed to investigate the association of type 2 diabetes with injury severity among driver victims of MVCs.
METHODS
This cohort study involved 75,737 adult driver victims with type 2 diabetes from Taiwan’s Police-Reported Traffic Accident Registry in 2015-2017, along with 150,911 sex-, age-, and calendar year-matched controls. The severity level of non- fatal injuries was derived from the International Classification of Diseases Programs for Injury Categorization based on the diagnostic codes of National Health Insurance claims within 3 days after an MVC. Information on fatal injuries within 3 days after an MVC was obtained from the Taiwan Death Registry. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of injury severity in association with type 2 diabetes.
RESULTS
After adjusting for potential confounders, driver victims with type 2 diabetes experienced significantly higher risks of mild and severe non-fatal injuries than their counterparts without diabetes, with covariate-adjusted ORs of 1.08 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.11) and 1.28 (95% CI, 1.20 to 1.37), respectively. By contrast, the adjusted OR for fatal injuries was not significantly elevated, at 1.02 (95% CI, 0.89 to 1.18). Similar results were found when car and scooter driver victims were analyzed separately.
CONCLUSIONS
Type 2 diabetes was found to moderately increase the severity of non-fatal injuries from MVCs among car and scooter driver victims.; Summary

Key Message
With 75,737 driver victims with diabetes and 150,911 matched controls, this study showed an 8% and 28% increase in mild and severe non-fatal injury, respectively among driver victims with diabetes. Such increase in risk was equally applied to both car and scooter drivers. No increase in risk of 3-day mortality after crash was found.

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