Demographic and Regional Trends of Pneumonia Mortality in the United States

Background: Pneumonia is the amongst the leading causes of death in the United States. In 2020, pneumonia accounted for over 53,000 deaths and 2.6 million emergency department visits. Further research is needed to study the evolution of country-wide trends and highlight disparities. Methods: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) was used to identify pneumonia-related deaths occurring within the United States. We extracted data regarding pneumonia-related deaths and population sizes from 1999 to 2020. Data on demographic and regional groups were analyzed, including gender, race/ethnicity, age, urban-rural classification, region, and states. Results: Overall mortality from pneumonia related deaths declined within the study period. Males experienced a larger age-adjusted mortality rate decrease than females. African American and Black people experienced the highest mortality throughout the duration of the study, while American Indian and Native Alaskan had the greatest reduction in mortality. Nursing home deaths decreased over time, and in turn, hospice deaths substantially rose. Deaths in people 85 years and older steadily declined. Finally, several geographical differences were found between urban-rural groups, states, and census regions. Conclusions: Pneumonia-related mortality between 1999–2020 has decreased in the United States. Policies to increase vaccination rates appear to be most promising in continuing the downward trend. Further research is needed to address pneumonia-related mortalities across demographic and geographical disparities.