As of July 2018, dementia was the 8^th and 5^th leading cause of death for males and females, respectively (Healthy HK, 2018, July 19). In 2017, a total of 1,455 people (557 males, 898 females) lost their life due to dementia, which accounted for 3.1% of the total deaths (Centre for Health Protection, 2019). Between 2001 and 2009, people aged 60 and above who died due to dementia, were doubled from 1% to 2% of all deaths. The age-standardised mortality rate (per 100,000 population) of dementia increased from 23.3 to 47.3 for males, and from 45.6 to 62.0 for females. The mortality rates increased exponentially with age (Yu et al., 2012). Between 2001 and 2010, there were 145 deaths of centenarian due to dementia (Yu et al., 2017).

The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to dementia for people aged 60 and above was 286,313 in 2006, which included 83,051 (29%) for males and 203,262 (71%) for females. Most of the burden was due to disability, with 284,326 (99%) of years lost due to disability (YLDs) and 1,987 (1%) of years of life lost (YLLs) (Yu et al., 2012).

References:

Centre for Health Protection. (2019, January 11). Number of Deaths by Leading Causes of Death by Sex by Age in 2017. Retrieved from https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/statistics/data/10/27/340.html

Healthy HK. (2018, July 19). Leading cause of all deaths.

Yu, R., Chau, P. H., McGhee, S. M., Cheung, W. L., Chan, K. C., Cheung, S. H., & Woo, J. (2012). Trends in prevalence and mortality of dementia in elderly Hong Kong population: projections, disease burden, and implications for long-term care. International Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/406852

Yu, R., Tam, W., & Woo, J. (2017). Trend of centenarian deaths in Hong Kong between 2001 and 2010. Geriatrics & gerontology international, 17(6), 931-936. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.12812