Abstract WP128: Trends in Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Related Mortality Among Older Adults (45 and above) in the United States: A 25-Year Retrospective Analysis, 1999–2023

Background: Stroke and cardiac arrest are major contributors to global mortality. The development of cardiac complications such as cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, and arrhythmias is higher in people who experience stroke, and these complications are more pronounced in individuals with pre-existing heart conditions. The aim of this study is to assess long-term mortality trends in people who have had a stroke and cardiac arrest in the U.S. and to discern populations at highest risk. Methods: Mortality rates were obtained from the CDC WONDER Database among adults aged 45 years and older who had a stroke (ICD-10 code 164) and cardiac arrest (ICD-10 code 146) from 1999 to 2023. Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) per 100,000 population and annual percent change (APC) were calculated via Joinpoint regression with a 95% confidence interval (CI), analyzing trends by year, race, gender, ethnicity, and region. Results: There were a total of 385,887 stroke and cardiac arrest-related deaths between 1999 and 2023 among adults aged ≥ 45 years. Overall AAMR followed a decreasing trend over the years, from 23.9 in 1999 to 12.9 in 2009 (APC: -6.28; 95% CI: -6.97 to -5.58), then falling to 6.7 in 2023 (APC: -4.17; 95% CI: -4.78 to -3.55). Males had a persistently higher mortality as compared to females, with AAMRs of 7.6 and 6.0 in 2023, respectively. NH Blacks/African Americans had the highest AAMR, followed by Hispanic/Latino, NH White, and NH American Indian/Alaska Native. Geographically, the Western region had the highest AAMR, followed by the Northeast, the South, and the Midwest. Moreover, metropolitan areas had a higher mortality rate (14.5) compared to non-metropolitan areas (14.0). Conclusion: Our study shows a decreasing trend in stroke and cardiac arrest-related mortality among older adults in the United States from 1999 to 2023. We observed significant demographic and geographic disparities, with higher mortality among men, Blacks/African Americans, individuals in the Western region, and those living in metropolitan areas.