Underestimation of Cirrhosis-Related Mortality in the Medicare Eligible Population, 1999–2018

The burden of cirrhosis may be increasing, especially among the elderly. A recent updated definition of cirrhosis has a >90% positive predictive value for identifying cirrhosis and cirrhosis-related complications.1 We hypothesized that cirrhosis-related mortality is underestimated, and that the elderly are disproportionally impacted. In this study, we aimed to examine trends in liver-related mortality using this updated definition among the elderly and to identify changes by relevant subsets of gender, race, and rurality.