Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39434608›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2025

Differences in setting of initial dementia diagnosis among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries.

Elizabeth M White, Thomas Bayer, Cyrus M Kosar, Christopher M Santostefano, Ulrike Muench, Hyesung Oh, Emily A Gadbois, Pedro L Gozalo, Momotazur Rahman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing 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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Changes in Medicare's Chronic Condition Files and Disparities in Dementia Identification.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2025
    Observational
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. 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

9 authors.

Elizabeth M WhiteDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4175-8662
Thomas BayerDivision of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1616-0714
Cyrus M KosarDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Christopher M SantostefanoDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Ulrike MuenchDepartment of Social Behavioral Sciences, University of California at San Francisco School of Nursing, San Francisco, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0754-664X
Hyesung OhDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Emily A GadboisDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1643-2732
Pedro L GozaloDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Momotazur RahmanDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8592-3511

Funding

VARIATIONS IN LIFE'S FINAL CHAPTERP01AG027296 · NIA · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI AMAL N. TRIVEDI · 2007 to 2026
$38.9M
VARC CoreP30AG044281 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Louise C. Walter · 2013 to 2026
$19.9M
Impact of Medicare and Medicaid Financing Initiatives on Post-acute and Long-term Care for Persons Living with DementiaR01AG089051 · NIA · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI Cyrus M Kosar, Md Momotazur Rahman · 2024 to 2026
$1.8M
The Impact of Advanced Practice Clinicians on End of Life Outcomes for Older Adults with DementiaR01AG065312 · NIA · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI RAHMAN, MD MOMOTAZUR · 2020 to 2022
$1.3M
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG027296NIA NIH HHS P01AG027296NIA NIH HHS P30 AG044281NIA NIH HHS R01 AG065312NIA NIH HHS R01AG065312NIA NIH HHS R01 AG089051
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccurate and timely diagnosis of dementia is necessary to allow affected individuals to make informed decisions and access appropriate resources. When dementia goes undetected until a hospitalization or nursing home stay, this could reflect delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, and may reflect underlying disparities in healthcare access.

methodsIn this retrospective cohort study, we used 2012-2020 Medicare claims and other administrative data to examine variation in setting of dementia diagnosis among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with an initial claims-based dementia diagnosis in 2016. We used multinomial logistic regression to evaluate the association of person and geographic factors with diagnosis location, and Cox proportional hazards regression to examine 4-year survival relative to diagnosis location.

resultsAmong 754,204 Medicare beneficiaries newly diagnosed with dementia in 2016, 60.3% were diagnosed in the community, 17.2% in hospitals, and 22.5% in nursing homes. Adjusted 4-year survival rates were significantly lower among those diagnosed in hospitals [-16.1 percentage points (95% CI: -17.0, -15.1)] and nursing homes [-16.8 percentage points (95% CI: -17.7, -15.9)], compared to those diagnosed in the community. Community-diagnosed beneficiaries were more often female, younger, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American or Alaskan Native, Hispanic, had fewer baseline hospitalizations and higher homecare use, and resided in wealthier ZIP codes. Rural beneficiaries were more likely to be diagnosed in hospitals.

conclusionsMany older adults are diagnosed with dementia in a hospital or nursing home. These individuals have significantly lower survival than those diagnosed in the community, which may indicate diagnosis during an acute illness or care transition, or at a later disease stage, all of which are suboptimal. These results highlight the need for improved dementia screening in the general population, particularly for individuals in rural areas and communities with higher social deprivation.

Indexed as

DementiaFee-for-Service PlansMedicareAgedAged, 80 and overDelayed DiagnosisFemaleHealthcare DisparitiesHospitalizationHumansMaleNursing HomesRetrospective StudiesUnited StatesAlzheimer's diseasedementiadiagnosisdisparitieshealthcare accesshealthcare qualityMedicare

Identifiers

PMID39434608
PMCPMC11735312

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.