Biracial Population Study of Mortality in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer Disease

Abstract
Alzheimer disease (AD) substantially reduces life expectancy1-7 and has emerged as a leading cause of death in the United States.5,8 Data from 2 national surveys suggest that life expectancy among patients with AD may be greater for African Americans than for whites.9,10 However, not all surveys have reported this difference.11 Furthermore, in these surveys, the diagnosis of AD is not based on a uniform clinical evaluation but derived from medical records, increasing the likelihood of substantial variation in the quality of diagnostic classifications.