TY - JOUR
T1 - Potentially Unsafe Activities and Living Conditions of Older Adults with Dementia
AU - Amjad, Halima
AU - Roth, David L.
AU - Samus, Quincy M.
AU - Yasar, Sevil
AU - Wolff, Jennifer L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr. Amjad was supported by Health Resources and Services Administration Grant D01HP08789 and the Pearl M. Stetler Research Fund. NHATS is supported by National Institute on Aging Grant U01AG032947. Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper. Author Contributions: Amjad, Roth, Wolff: study concept and design. Amjad, Roth, Wolff: analysis and interpretation of data. Amjad: preparation of manuscript. Roth, Yasar, Samus, Wolff: editing of manuscript. Sponsor's Role: The sponsors had no role in the design, methods, subject recruitment, data collection, or analysis and preparation of the paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2016, The American Geriatrics Society.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Objectives: To examine the prevalence of dementia in the absence of a reported dementia diagnosis and whether potentially unsafe activities and living conditions vary as a function of dementia diagnosis status in a nationally representative sample of older adults. Design: Observational cohort study. Setting: Community. Participants: Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older enrolled in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N = 7,609). Measurements: Participants were classified into four groups based on self-report of dementia diagnosis, proxy screening interview, and cognitive testing: probable dementia with reported dementia diagnosis (n = 457), probable dementia without reported dementia diagnosis (n = 581), possible dementia (n = 996), or no dementia (n = 5,575). Potentially unsafe activities (driving, preparing hot meals, managing finances or medications, attending doctor visits alone) and living conditions (falls, living alone, and unmet needs) were examined according to dementia status subgroups in stratified analyses and multivariate models, adjusting for sociodemographic factors, medical comorbidities, and physical capacity. Results: The prevalence of driving (22.9%), preparing hot meals (31.0%), managing finances (21.9%), managing medications (36.6%), and attending doctor visits alone (20.6%) was lowest in persons with probable dementia; however, but in persons with probable dementia, the covariate-adjusted rates of driving, preparing hot meals, managing finances, managing medications, and attending doctor visits alone were significantly higher in those without reported dementia diagnosis than in those with reported diagnosis (all odds ratios ≥2.00, all P < .01). Conclusion: Older adults with probable dementia who are not aware of a dementia diagnosis are more likely to report engaging in potentially unsafe behaviors. Understanding the prevalence of potentially unsafe activities and living conditions can help clinicians focus safety screening and counseling in older adults with diagnosed or suspected dementia.
AB - Objectives: To examine the prevalence of dementia in the absence of a reported dementia diagnosis and whether potentially unsafe activities and living conditions vary as a function of dementia diagnosis status in a nationally representative sample of older adults. Design: Observational cohort study. Setting: Community. Participants: Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older enrolled in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N = 7,609). Measurements: Participants were classified into four groups based on self-report of dementia diagnosis, proxy screening interview, and cognitive testing: probable dementia with reported dementia diagnosis (n = 457), probable dementia without reported dementia diagnosis (n = 581), possible dementia (n = 996), or no dementia (n = 5,575). Potentially unsafe activities (driving, preparing hot meals, managing finances or medications, attending doctor visits alone) and living conditions (falls, living alone, and unmet needs) were examined according to dementia status subgroups in stratified analyses and multivariate models, adjusting for sociodemographic factors, medical comorbidities, and physical capacity. Results: The prevalence of driving (22.9%), preparing hot meals (31.0%), managing finances (21.9%), managing medications (36.6%), and attending doctor visits alone (20.6%) was lowest in persons with probable dementia; however, but in persons with probable dementia, the covariate-adjusted rates of driving, preparing hot meals, managing finances, managing medications, and attending doctor visits alone were significantly higher in those without reported dementia diagnosis than in those with reported diagnosis (all odds ratios ≥2.00, all P < .01). Conclusion: Older adults with probable dementia who are not aware of a dementia diagnosis are more likely to report engaging in potentially unsafe behaviors. Understanding the prevalence of potentially unsafe activities and living conditions can help clinicians focus safety screening and counseling in older adults with diagnosed or suspected dementia.
KW - dementia
KW - observational study
KW - safety
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U2 - 10.1111/jgs.14164
DO - 10.1111/jgs.14164
M3 - Article
C2 - 27253366
AN - SCOPUS:84975300002
VL - 64
SP - 1223
EP - 1232
JO - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
JF - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
SN - 0002-8614
IS - 6
ER -