Decrease also seen in estimated age-adjusted COVID-19 death rate, from 115.6 to 63.1 per 100,000 persons<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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THURSDAY, May 4, 2023 (HealthDay News) — There was a decrease in the age-adjusted death rate from 2021 to 2022, as well as a decrease in the COVID-19 mortality rate, according to research published in the May 5 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Farida B. Ahmad, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues provided an overview of U.S. mortality data for 2022, including a comparison with death rates from 2021. The researchers found approximately 3,273,705 deaths in the United States in 2022. The estimated 2022 age-adjusted death rate decreased by 5.3 percent from 2021, from 879.7 to 832.8 deaths per 100,000 persons. In an estimated 7.5 percent of those deaths (244,986 deaths; 61.3 per 100,000), COVID-19 was reported as an underlying or contributing cause. The highest overall death rates were seen for persons aged 85 years and older, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives (AI\/AN), non-Hispanic Black or African Americans, and males. Heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, and COVID-19 were the four leading causes of death in 2022.<\/p>\n In a second study, Ahmad and colleagues summarized provisional U.S. COVID-19 death data for 2022. The researchers found that COVID-19 was the underlying (primary) or contributing cause in the chain of events leading to death in 244,986 deaths in the United States. The estimated age-adjusted COVID-19-associated death rate decreased 47 percent during 2021 to 2022, from 115.6 to 61.3 per 100,000 persons. The highest COVID-19 death rates were seen for persons aged 85 years and older, non-Hispanic AI\/AN populations, and males. COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause of death in 76 percent of deaths with COVID-19 listed on the death certificate.<\/p>\n “These findings also help to guide public health policies and interventions intended to reduce severe COVID-19 impact by providing insight into groups that remain vulnerable to COVID-19\u00e2\u0080\u0093associated mortality,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text – Mortality Update 2022<\/a><\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text – COVID-19 Mortality Update 2022<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n