Scalmana, Silvia and Di Napoli, Anteo and Franco, Francesco and Vanacore, Nicola and Di Lallo, Domenico and Giarrizzo, Maria Letizia and Guasticchi, Gabriella (2013) Use of health and social care services in a cohort of Italian dementia patients. Functional Neurology, 28 (4). pp. 265-273. ISSN 1971-3274
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Abstract
The aim of this study, conducted in the Region of Lazio, Italy, in 2008-2010, was to describe the use, over a one-year period, of health and social care services in a cohort of 712 patients with a diagnosis of dementia. These patients had never previously used such services. We evaluated the association between the patients’ sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and their use of services. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected at baseline using validated instruments, while the use of services was investigated at the end of the one-year follow-up through a structured (questionnaire-based) interview with the caregiver. We found that 11.9% of patients used health or social care services. The most frequent diagnoses were: Alzheimer’s disease (72.1%), mixed dementia (20.5%), and vascular dementia (9.7%). A higher probability of use of services was observed in patients with: more than five years of schooling (OR=1.79; 95%CI:1.08-2.96); one or more comorbidity (OR=4.87; 95%CI:2.05-11.57); severe (OR=4.78; 95%CI:1.75-13.06) or moderate dementia (OR=2.08; 95%CI:0.98-4.40). The low health and social care service use among dementia patients in this study could be explained by a lack of availability of services. Public health authorities should plan adequate networks of services, considering both patients and caregivers’ needs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cohort study, dementia, health and social care services, healthcare system, memory clinics |
| Subjects: | 600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici) |
| Depositing User: | Marina Spanti |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Dec 2015 13:05 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Dec 2015 13:05 |
| URI: | http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/10931 |
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