Older patients who are diagnosed with dementia are more likely to move to another state or county than their peers who are diagnosed with other conditions, a study in JAMA Network Open has found.
“Our findings illuminate the profound impact that a dementia diagnosis can have on an individual’s residential choices, challenging traditional conceptions of aging in place and adding depth to our understanding of the interplay between health and migration,” wrote Momotazur Rahman, Ph.D., of Brown University, and colleagues.
Rahman and colleagues examined data from more than 1.6 million Medicare beneficiaries who received a diagnosis of either dementia, myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or colon cancer in 2016. The researchers then tracked each patient’s residential history (including nursing home use) from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2020, with the first four years serving as the prediagnosis period and the last four years serving as the postdiagnosis period.
The researchers found that migration rates to other counties or states were similar among all patient groups in the first three years before diagnosis. In the months immediately before and after diagnosis, migration among people in the dementia group rose substantially and remained higher through the postdiagnosis period.
Within four years of a dementia diagnosis, 22% of individuals moved to a different county, a rate 1.4 times higher than seen for the other conditions. Patients in the dementia group were also more likely to move to another state than those in the other groups, but the difference was not as high. For both intercounty and interstate migrations, individuals with dementia were more likely to move to other community settings versus nursing home settings.
“One possible explanation is that individuals with dementia and their caregivers may choose to move closer to family or informal caregivers, either with independent housing arrangements or entering formal long-term care services,” the researchers wrote. “As the global population ages and dementia prevalence increases, it becomes crucial for policymakers and communities to recognize and address the unique migration patterns and needs of individuals with this life-altering condition.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/JasonRWarren)
Don't miss out! To learn about newly posted articles in Psychiatric News, please sign up here.