Study: Kentucky has 2nd highest dementia-linked death rate in U.S.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)- The 24-7 Wall Street.com, an online financial news and opinion based company in Delaware has released a study that says Kentucky has the second highest dementia-linked death rate in the country.

Kentucky’s specific numbers say there were over 4.400 dementia deaths. Forty percent of those deaths were linked to Alzheimer’s, according to the study.

Kentucky’s dementia-linked death rate is 87 per 100,000 people.

The study says people living with dementia worldwide is projected to triple over the next 30 years.

Findings from the study:

10 States with the Highest Dementia-Linked Death Rates

1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. South Carolina
4. Maine
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. North Carolina
8. Georgia
9. Massachusetts
10. Minnesota

– In 2017, 66.7 people per 100,000 people died from dementia-related causes in the United States, up from 30.5 dementia deaths per 100,000 people in 2000.

-The death rates from dementia-related causes were fairly steady between 2013 and 2016 but increased noticeably from 2016 to 2017 in all age groups at highest risk — 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85 and older — as well as all races. Some of the increase can be attributed to changes in the cause of death coding rules, which added more causes under dementia-related) deaths.

Dementia-related death rates vary across states. Several states with highest dementia-related death rates are in the South, while several states with the lowest dementia-related death rates are in the West. And dementia-related death rates are higher in non-metropolitan than in metropolitan areas, at 69.6 dementia-related deaths per 100,000 people versus 66.2 per 100,000, respectively.

Click HERE to read the full report.