Canadian Geriatrics Journal · 8 authors, 6 centres
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This retrospective cohort study examined health service use over a 10-year period (5 years before and after diagnosis) for 436 patients in a rural/remote specialist memory clinic. The central finding is a pattern of increasing family physician visits and drug prescriptions across the entire study period, while hospitalizations and specialist visits peaked around the time of diagnosis and then decreased.
This study linked clinical and administrative health data for patients referred to a rural/remote specialist memory clinic to analyze annual health service utilization over a decade surrounding diagnosis. The average age was 71 years, and about 40% of diagnoses were Alzheimer’s disease. Key results showed a significant increase over the 10-year period in the average number of family physician visits, all-type drug prescriptions, and dementia-specific drug prescriptions. The proportion of patients hospitalized was highest one year before diagnosis, and the average number of specialist visits was highest one year after diagnosis, with both showing a significant decreasing trend in the five-year post-index period.
