Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38768645›Full record

Observational studyJournal of the American Medical Directors Association2024

Telemedicine and Disparities in Mental Health Service Use Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias.

Shubing Cai, Qiuyuan Qin, Peter Veazie, Helena Temkin-Greener

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Changes in Medicare's Chronic Condition Files and Disparities in Dementia Identification.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2025
    Observational
  2. Observational
  3. Observational
  4. Telemedicine experience among family caregivers of persons with dementia.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Shubing CaiDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA. Electronic address: Shubing_Cai@URMC.Rochester.edu.
Qiuyuan QinDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA.
Peter VeazieDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA.
Helena Temkin-GreenerDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA.

Funding

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on community-dwelling older adults with ADRDRF1AG063811 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · PI CAI, SHUBING · 2019 to 2020
$2.2M
Telemedicine and health disparities among community-dwelling older adults with ADRD during COVID-19 pandemicRF1AG073052 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · PI CAI, SHUBING · 2021 to 2021
$1.4M
Home and community based services among persons with ADRDR01AG052451 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · PI CAI, SHUBING · 2016 to 2018
$1.4M
Telemedicine and health disparities among community-dwelling older adults with ADRD during COVID-19 pandemicR01AG073052 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · PI CAI, SHUBING · 2024 to 2024
$245k
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG052451NIA NIH HHS R01 AG073052NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG063811NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG073052
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine disparities in mental health (MH) service utilization, via in-person and telemedicine (ie, tele-MH), by individuals' race, ethnicity, and community socioeconomic status, among community-dwelling older adults with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) before and after the expansion of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS's) telemedicine policy.

designObservational study. SETTING AND

participantsA total of 3,003,571 community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries with ADRD between 2019 and 2021 were included in the study.

methodsMultiple national data were linked. The unit of analysis was individual-quarter. Three outcomes were defined: any MH visits (in-person or tele-MH), in-person MH visits, and tele-MH visits per quarter. Key independent variables included individual race and ethnicity, the socioeconomic status of the community, and an indicator for the implementation of the telemedicine policy. Regression analyses with individual random effects were used.

resultsIn general, Black and Hispanic older adults with ADRD and those in socioeconomically deprived communities were less likely to have MH visits than white adults and those from less-deprived communities. In-person and tele-MH visits varied throughout the pandemic and across subpopulations. For instance, at the beginning of the pandemic, white, Black, and Hispanic older adults experienced 5.05, 3.03, and 2.87 percentage point reductions in in-person MH visits, and 3.53, 1.26, and 0.32 percentage point increases in tele-MH visits (with P < .01 for racial/ethnic differences), respectively. During the pandemic, the increasing trend in in-person MH visits and the decreasing trend in tele-MH visits varied across different subgroups. Overall, racial and ethnic differences in any MH visits were reduced, but the gap in any MH visits between deprived and less-deprived communities doubled during the pandemic (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Telemedicine may have provided an opportunity to improve access to MH services among underserved populations. However, although some disparities in MH care were reduced, others widened, underscoring the importance of equitable health care access strategies to address the unique needs of different populations.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseHealthcare DisparitiesIndependent LivingTelemedicineAgedAged, 80 and overCOVID-19DementiaFemaleHumansMaleMedicareMental Health ServicesUnited StatesADRDhealth disparitiesmental health utilizationtelemedicine

Identifiers

PMID38768645
PMCPMC11550786

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.