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CDC: COPD-Related Mortality Mostly Down in the United States

However, rates are up for black women and middle-aged patients

FRIDAY, Sept. 9, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Fewer Americans are dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but not black women and the middle-aged, according to a September data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Hanyu Ni, Ph.D., and Jiaquan Xu, M.D., of the CDC’s division of vital statistics at the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, reviewed data collected by the National Vital Statistics System between 2000 and 2014.

Between 2000 and 2014, there was a 12.3 percent reduction in overall mortality from COPD. But the report painted a mixed picture of risk. For example, while the rate decreased 22.5 percent in men, the rate reduction for women was 3.8 percent. Men between the ages of 65 and 84 had a reduced mortality rate of 29.7 percent, while for those 85 and older, the reduction was 22.5 percent. For men between 45 and 64, the mortality rate increased 12.8 percent. Women between 65 and 84 saw their mortality rate drop by 16.1 percent; however, those between 45 and 64 saw an increase of 24.4 percent. The rate among those 85 and older increased 6.3 percent.

White women saw little change during the study period, while black women saw their mortality rate rise by 4.2 percent. Conversely, white men experienced a drop of 21.1 percent, while black men saw a decline of 24.3 percent.

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