1. Risk factors for incidence of dementia in primary care practice: a retrospective cohort study in older adults.
- Author
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Pham ANQ, Lindeman C, Voaklander D, Wagg A, and Drummond N
- Subjects
- Aged, Canada epidemiology, Chronic Disease, Humans, Incidence, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Dementia drug therapy, Dementia epidemiology, Dementia etiology, Primary Health Care
- Abstract
Background: The dementias are long-term, chronic conditions caused by progressive neurological degeneration. Current literature suggests that cardiovascular disease risk factors may contribute to the onset of dementia; however, evidence of these associations is inconsistent., Objectives: This study aimed to examine the impact of risk factors on dementia onset in older adults diagnosed and managed in Canadian primary care settings., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was employed utilizing electronic medical records data in the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN). Patients aged 65+ years with no dementia diagnosis at baseline who were followed from 2009 to 2017 with a run-in year to exclude existing undiagnosed dementia cases. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate risk., Results: Age was associated with an increased incidence risk of dementia in both examined age groups: 65-79 years (13%) and 80+ years (5%). History of depression increased dementia risk by 38% and 34% in the age groups. There were significant associations with lower social deprivation area quintile, smoking history, osteoarthritis, and diabetes mellitus in patients aged 65-79 years but not in those aged 80+ years. Sex, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, and the use of antihypertensive medications and statins were not associated with risk of incident dementia diagnosis., Conclusions: The association between chronic health conditions and dementia onset is complicated. Primary care electronic medical record data might be useful for research in this topic, though follow-up time is still relatively short to observe a clear causal relationship. Future studies with more complete data may provide evidence for dementia preventive strategies within primary care practice., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Published
- 2022
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