Death certificates may not adequately report dementia as cause of death

The actual number of deaths linked to dementia may be about three times greater than what is reported on U.S. death certificates, according to a recent NIA-supported study. The findings were published online August 24, 2020, in JAMA Neurology. Previous studies have established that doctors and medical examiners may be underreporting Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias as an underlying cause of death on death certificates. To investigate whether the impact from the underreporting was substantial, a research team led by investigators at Boston University compared dementia-related deaths determined by a nationally representative study to what is reported on death certificates. The researchers also calculated deaths related to cognitive impairment because about one-third of people with cognitive impairment develop dementia within five years.