Asthma mortality in Spain from 1980 to 2019. Trends and perspectives in new treatment era

Abstract

Background: Previous studies suggest that asthma mortality rates in Spain are decreasing but this trend was not observed for younger age groups. Objetive: To analyse mortality rates of asthma from the last 40 years, focusing on changes related with the development of new therapeutic approaches. Methods: Death records and mid-year population data were collected from the National Statistics Institute. By using the direct method, age-standardized mortality rates were calculated for overall population and for each sex and age group. Significant changes in mortality trends were identified by Joinpoint regressions. The independent effects of age, period and cohort (APC) and Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) due to asthma were also analysed. Results: Age-standardized asthma mortality rates decreased in Spain from 7.38 to 2.03 deaths per 100 000 from the first to the last quinquennium of the study (1980–1984 to 2015–2019) for the overall population. This decrease is more intense among men, where a decrease from 10.37/100.000 to 0.91/100.000 was observed versus 5.53 to 2.77/100.000 in women. All age groups have decreased mortality. While> 64 have stabilized their decline and 35-64 have even increased in the last 3 years, <35 maintain a rapid decline since the 1990s. Conclusion: There is a decline in asthma mortality rates starting in 1980, including younger cohorts starting in the 1990s, confirming earlier trends. Improved diagnosis and development of new therapies for asthma may they have a role in this event. Close monitoring of asthma mortality rates is necessary to confirm these trends.