Dementia: Who is least likely to get an early diagnosis in the US?
- Dementia diagnosis and treatment varies greatly across the United States, according to a new study.
- In addition to regional disparities, other populations are often overlooked, including Blacks and Hispanics, and people ages 66-74.
- The problem may be caused by a number of factors.
A person is less likely to get a dementia diagnosis and dementia treatment in some parts of the United States than others. This also applies to people from other historically marginalized groups, according to a new study.
Research, appearing in
The study authors analyzed Medicare Fee-for-Service records for 4,842,034 elderly Medicare beneficiaries from 2018 to 2019 for a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).
They found the prevalence of ADRD varied across regions, regardless of population risk factors, such as education level, obesity, smoking patterns and diabetes diagnosis.
The power of the analysis ranged from 0.69 to 1.47 among hospital referral sites.
Strength was lowest among blacks and Hispanics, and among those aged 66 to 74, the youngest group of people most likely to be affected by dementia.
Lycia Neumann, PhD, senior director of Health Services Research at the Alzheimer’s Association of America, who was not involved in the study, said. Medical News Today that “Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias” are often underdiagnosed, as the data is 2024 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures reports show. ”
“And, as this newly published paper shows, there are significant regional differences in dementia rates, exacerbated by age and racial/ethnic disparity,” he said.
The study’s first author, Julie PW Bynum, MD, professor of geriatric and palliative medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, noted that, “[w]with our data alone, we cannot say for sure what is causing the differences. ”
However, he continued, “
#Dementia #early #diagnosis
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