Four Decades of COPD Mortality Trends: Analysis of Trends and Multiple Causes of Death

There is little information on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality trends, age of death, or male:female ratio. This study therefore sought to analyze time trends in mortality with COPD recorded as the underlying cause of death from 1980 through 2017, and with COPD recorded other than as the underlying cause of death. We conducted an analysis of COPD deaths in Galicia (Spain) from 1980 through 2017, including those in which COPD was recorded other than as the underlying cause of death from 2015 through 2017. We calculated the crude and standardized rates, and analyzed mortality trends using joinpoint regression models. There were 43,234 COPD deaths, with a male:female ratio of 2.4. Median age of death was 82 years. A change point in the mortality trend was detected in 1996 with a significant decrease across the sexes, reflected by an annual percentage change of −3.8%. Taking deaths into account in which COPD participated or contributed without being the underlying cause led to an overall 42% increase in the mortality burden. The most frequent causes of death when COPD was not considered to be the underlying cause were bronchopulmonary neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases. COPD mortality has decreased steadily across the sexes in Galicia since 1996, and age of death has also gradually increased. Multiple-cause death analysis may help prevent the underestimation of COPD mortality.