New Research Suggests Your Zip Code Could Impact When You Receive An Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis, Calling For Local Healthcare Changes To Close These Geographic Gaps
In the United States, the specific area you live in can have a huge impact on when you receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementias, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.
The finding suggests that local healthcare systems may play a bigger role in diagnosis than previously believed.
An official diagnosis of Alzheimer’s allows patients to receive the proper treatment and support services.
Receiving an early diagnosis is even better. But, if the rates of diagnosis vary based on geography, it raises questions about healthcare across the nation.
“These findings go beyond demographic and population-level differences in risk and indicate that there are health system-level differences that could be targeted and remediated,” Dr. Julie Bynum, the leader of the study and a geriatrician and healthcare researcher at the university, said.
According to Dr. Bynum, the wide variation of dementia diagnoses may happen due to a range of factors, including practice norms for healthcare providers and the knowledge of individual patients.
In the study, the Medicare claims data for 4.8 million older adults across 306 hospital referral regions in the U.S. were analyzed.
The researchers compared actual diagnosis rates in each region to expected rates based on risk factors within the population.
The results showed major geographical fluctuations in diagnosis rates. They varied from 1.7 to 5.4 per 100 older adults across regions.
Rido – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
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In some areas, adults were twice as likely to get diagnosed compared to areas with the lowest diagnosis rates.
The inequalities were most notable for adults between 66 and 74 years old and for Black and Hispanic individuals.
The rates of diagnosis across the country followed a pattern that suggested local healthcare systems were behind the disparities.
Moving forward, researchers must work on determining what factors within the systems are driving the variations. They could be anything from physician training to the availability of memory clinics.
Experts also need to figure out if there are any best practices from high-performing zones that should be implemented, as well as identify and eliminate any systemic barriers. Doing so can make a significant difference in public health.
With almost seven million Americans diagnosed with dementia and a population that is continuing to age, it is more important than ever to close these geographic gaps in diagnosis and make sure that all older adults receive equitable care.
“The goal these days should be to identify people with cognitive issues earlier, yet our data show the younger age group of Medicare participants is the one with the most variation,” said Bynum.
“For communities and health systems, this should be a call to action for spreading knowledge and increasing efforts to make services available to people.”
“And for individuals, the message is that you may need to advocate for yourself to get what you need, including cognitive checks.”
The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
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