Cause of death in adults with Down syndrome in the United States.
Scott D Landes, J Dalton Stevens, Margaret A Turk
PMID 32680774WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with Down syndrome face much higher death risks from choking, pneumonitis, and early-onset dementia.
They also have lower cancer death rates. Clinicians should screen for swallowing issues and start dementia checks by age 35.
Key findings
01Adults with Down syndrome had substantially higher comparative risk of death from pneumonitis, dementia/Alzheimer’s disease, congenital heart defect, and choking compared to adults without Down syndrome.
02The risk of death from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease became apparent around age 35 for adults with Down syndrome, much earlier than in the general population.
03Pneumonitis and choking combined accounted for 12.2% of all deaths for adults with Down syndrome, likely linked to higher prevalence of dysphagia and swallowing disorders.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study relies on death certificate data, which can be inaccurate. 9.0% of adults with Down syndrome had no specific cause of death identified because only Down syndrome was coded. The analysis could not explore age trends within specific sex and racial-ethnic subgroups due to insufficient case numbers. The study is observational and cannot determine why certain risks are higher, only that they are.
Declared interests
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H., Extramural). No other conflicts of interest are stated in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that lower cancer death rates mean adults with Down syndrome are healthier overall. The lower rate may partly reflect shorter life spans, as the median age at death was 55, while the median age for cancer diagnosis in the general US population is 66.