Researcher at Yonsei University Publishes Research in Dementia (Socioeconomic Status and Dementia Risk Among Intensive Care Unit Survivors: Using National Health Insurance Cohort in Korea): Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions – Dementia

Health & Medicine Business Daily

2024 JAN 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Business Daily -- Investigators publish new report on dementia. According to news reporting out of Seoul, South Korea, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “In aging populations, more elderly patients are going to the intensive care unit (ICU) and surviving. However, the specific factors influencing the occurrence of post-intensive care syndrome in the elderly remain uncertain.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Yonsei University: “To investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and risk of developing dementia within two years following critical care. This study included participants from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Cohort Database who had not been diagnosed with dementia and had been hospitalized in the ICU from 2003 to 2019. Dementia was determined using specific diagnostic codes (G30, G31) and prescription of certain medications (rivastigmine, galantamine, memantine, or donepezil). SES was categorized into low (medical aid beneficiaries) and non-low (National Health Insurance) groups. Through a 1:3 propensity score matching based on sex, age, Charlson comorbidity index, and primary diagnosis, the study included 16,780 patients. We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of dementia. Patients with low SES were higher risk of developing dementia within 2 years after receiving critical care than those who were in non-low SES (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.04-1.46). Specifically, patients with low SES and those in the high-income group exhibited the highest incidence rates of developing dementia within two years after receiving critical care, with rates of 3.61 (95% CI: 3.13-4.17) for low SES and 2.58 (95% CI: 2.20-3.03) for high income, respectively.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “After discharge from critical care, compared to the non-low SES group, the low SES group was associated with an increased risk of developing dementia.”

For more information on this research see: Socioeconomic Status and Dementia Risk Among Intensive Care Unit Survivors: Using National Health Insurance Cohort in Korea. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2023. The publisher for Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease is IOS Press.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-230715.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Yu Shin Park, Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Hye Jin Joo, Yun Seo Jang, Hajae Jeon, Eun-Cheol Park, Jaeyong Shin.