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Background: Dementia and psychotropic medications are discussed as risk factors for severe/lethal outcome of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to explore the associations between the presence of dementia and medication use with mortality in the hospitalized and discharged patients who suffered from COVID-19. Methods: We conducted an open-cohort observational study based on electronic patient records from nine geriatric care clinics in the larger Stockholm area, Sweden, between February 28, 2020, and November 22, 2021. In total, we identified 5122 hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19, out of which 762 (14.9%) patients had concurrent dementia and 4360 (85.1%) were dementia-free. Patients' age, sex, baseline oxygen saturation, comorbidities, and medication prescription (cardiovascular and psychotropic medication) were registered at admission. The hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of in-hospital, 30-day, 90-day, 365-day post-discharge, and overall mortality during the follow-up were obtained. Then, the associations of dementia and medication use with mortality were determined using proportional hazards regression with time since entry as a time scale. Results: After adjustment, dementia was independently associated with 68% higher in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients compared to patients who were dementia-free at admission [HRs (95% CI) 1.68 (1.37–2.06)]. The increase was consistent post-discharge, and the overall mortality of dementia patients was increased by 59% [1.59 (1.40–1.81)]. In addition, the prescription of antipsychotic medication at hospital admission was associated with a 70% higher total mortality risk [1.70 (1.47–1.97)]. Conclusions: The clinical co-occurence of dementia and COVID-19 increases the short- and long-term risk of death, and the antipsychotics seem to further the risk increase. Our results may help identify high-risk patients in need of more specialized care when infected with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The effectiveness of glucose-lowering drugs (GLDs) is unknown among patients with dementia.Objective: To analyze all-cause mortality among users of six GLDs in dementia and dementia-free subjects, respectively.Methods: This was a longitudinal open-cohort registry-based study using data from the Swedish Dementia Registry, Total Population Register, and four supplemental registers providing data on dementia status, drug usage, confounders, and mortality. The cohort comprised 132,402 subjects with diabetes at baseline, of which 11,401 (8.6%) had dementia and 121,001 (91.4%) were dementia-free. Subsequently, comparable dementia - dementia-free pairs were sampled. Then, as-treated and intention-to-treat exposures to metformin, insulin, sulfonylurea, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 analogues (GLP-1a), and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i) were analyzed in the parallel dementia and dementia-free cohorts. Confounding was addressed using inverse-probability weighting and propensity-score matching, and flexible parametric survival models were used to produce hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the association between GLDs and all-cause mortality.Results: In the as-treated models, increased mortality was observed among insulin users with dementia (HR 1.34 [95%CI 1.24-1.45]) as well as in dementia-free subjects (1.54 [1.10-1.55]). Conversely, sulfonylurea was associated with higher mortality only in dementia subjects (1.19 [1.01-1.42]). GLP-1a (0.44 [0.25-0.78]) and SGLT-2i users with dementia (0.43 [0.23-0.80]) experienced lower mortality compared to non-users.Conclusion: Insulin and sulfonylurea carried higher mortality risk among dementia patients, while GLP-1a and SGLT-2i were associated with lower risk. GLD-associated mortality varied between dementia and comparable dementia-free subjects. Further studies are needed to optimize GLD use in dementia patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The effect of antidiabetic medication on cognitive function is unclear. We analyzed the association between five antidiabetic drugs and change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in patients with diabetes and dementia. Methods: Using the Swedish Dementia Registry and four supplementary Swedish registers/databases, we identified 1873 patients (4732 observations) with diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (diabetes) and Alzheimer's disease or mixed-pathology dementia who were followed up at least once after dementia diagnosis. Use of metformin, insulin, sulfonylurea, thiazolidinediones (TZD), and dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) was identified at baseline. Prevalent-user, incident-user, and drug-drug cohorts were sampled, and propensity-score matching was used to analyze comparable subjects. Beta coefficients with 95% confidence intervals (CI) from the random intercept and slope linear mixed-effects models determined the association between the use of antidiabetic medications and decline in MMSE score points between the follow-ups. Inverse-probability weighting was used to account for patient dropout. Results: Compared to non-users, prevalent users of metformin (beta 0.89, 95% CI 0.44; 1.33) and DPP-4i (0.72, 0.06; 1.37) experienced a slower cognitive decline with time. Secondly, compared to DPP-4i, the use of insulin (−1.00, −1.95; −0.04) and sulfonylureas (−1.19; −2.33; −0.04) was associated with larger point-wise decrements in MMSE with annual intervals. Conclusions: In this large cohort of patients with diabetes and dementia, the use of metformin and DPP-4i was associated with a slower decline in MMSE scores. Further examination of the cognitive effects of metformin and incretin-based medications is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Care individualization dominates in clinical guidelines for cognitively impaired patients with diabetes; however, few studies examined such adaptations.Objective: Describe long-term pharmacological changes in diabetes treatment in subjects with and without dementia.Methods: We performed a registry-based cohort study on 133,318 Swedish subjects (12,284 [9.2%] with dementia) with type 2 or other/unspecified diabetes. Dementia status originated from the Swedish Dementia Registry, while the National Patient Register, Prescribed Drug Register, and Cause of Death Register provided data on diabetes, comorbidities, drug dispensation, and mortality. Drug dispensation interval comprised years between 2005 and 2018 and the dispensation was assessed relative to index date (dementia diagnosis) in full cohort and propensity-score (PS) matched cohorts. Annual changes of drug dispensation were analyzed by linear regression, while Cox and competing-risk regression were used to determine the probability of drug dispensation after index date in naïve subjects. Studied medications included insulin, metformin, sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, dipeptidyl-peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists (GLP-1a), and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i).Results: Dementia patients had higher probability of insulin dispensation (hazard ratio 1.21 [95% CI 1.11-1.31] and lower probability of DPP-4i (0.72 [0.66-0.79]), GLP-1a (0.51 [0.41-0.63]), and SGLT-2i dispensation (0.44 [0.36-0.54]) after index date. PS-matched analyses showed increased annual insulin dispensation (β difference 0.97%) and lower increase in DPP-4i (-0.58%), GLP-1a (-0.13%), and SGLT-2i (-0.21%) dispensation in dementia patients compared to dementia-free controls.Conclusion: Dementia patients had lower probability of receiving newer antidiabetic drugs, with simultaneous higher insulin dispensation compared to dementia-free subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Life in rural and urban areas differs in regard to social support and health care. Our aim was to examine the association between nursing home placement and survival of patients with dementia living in urban vs. rural areas. Methods: We performed a longitudinal cohort study of patients with dementia at time of diagnosis (n = 58 154) and at first follow‐up (n = 21 522) including patients registered from 2007 through 2014 in the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem). Descriptive statistics are shown. Odds ratios with 95% CI are presented for nursing home placement and hazard ratios for survival analysis. Results: In age‐ and sex‐adjusted analyses, patients living in urban areas were more likely to be in nursing homes at the time of dementia diagnosis than patients in rural areas (1.49, 95% CI: 1.29–1.73). However, there were no differences in rural vs urban areas in either survival after dementia diagnosis (urban: 0.99, 0.95‐1.04, intermediate: 1.00, 0.96–1.04), or nursing home placement at first follow‐up (urban: 1.00, 0.88–1.13; intermediate: 0.95, 0.85–1.06). Conclusion: Persons with dementia living in rural areas are less likely to live in a nursing home than their urban counterparts at the time of dementia diagnosis, but these differences disappear by the time of first follow‐up. Differences in access to nursing homes between urban and rural settings could explain these findings. Results should be considered in the future healthcare decisions to ensure equality of health care across rural and urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown that patients with dementia receive less testing and treatment for stroke.Objectives: Our aim was to investigate hospital management of acute ischemic stroke in patients with and without dementia.Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data 2010-2014 from the Swedish national dementia registry (SveDem) and the Swedish national stroke registry (Riksstroke). Patients with dementia who suffered an acute ischemic stroke (AIS) (n = 1,356) were compared with matched non-dementia AIS patients (n = 6,755). Outcomes included length of stay in a stroke unit, total length of hospitalization, and utilization of diagnostic tests and assessments.Results: The median age at stroke onset was 83 years. While patients with dementia were equally likely to be directly admitted to a stroke unit as their non-dementia counterparts, their stroke unit and total hospitalization length were shorter (10.5 versus 11.2 days and 11.6 versus 13.5, respectively, p < 0.001). Dementia patients were less likely to receive carotid ultrasound (OR 0.36, 95% CI [0.30-0.42]) or undergo assessments by the interdisciplinary team members (physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists; p < 0.05 for all adjusted models). However, a similar proportion of patients received CT imaging (97.4% versus 98.6%, p = 0.001) and a swallowing assessment (90.7% versus 91.8%, p = 0.218).Conclusions: Patients with dementia who suffer an ischemic stroke have equal access to direct stroke unit care compared to non-dementia patients; however, on average, their stay in a stroke unit and total hospitalization are shorter. Dementia patients are also less likely to receive specific diagnostic tests and assessments by the interdisciplinary stroke team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to investigate the differences in clinical characteristics and pharmacological treatment associated with the presence of diabetes in a large cohort of patients with dementia.Research Design and Methods: A cross-sectional registry-based study was conducted using data from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem). Data on dementia diagnosis, dementia type, and demographic determinants were extracted from SveDem. Data from the Swedish Patient Register and Prescribed Drug Register were combined for the diagnosis of diabetes. Data on antidiabetic, dementia, cardiovascular, and psychotropic medications were extracted from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Logistic regression was used to determine whether the variables were associated with diabetes after adjustment for confounders. In total, 29,630 patients were included in the study, and 4,881 (16.5%) of them received a diagnosis of diabetes.Results: In the fully adjusted model, diabetes was associated with lower age at dementia diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] 0.97 [99% CI 0.97-0.98]), male sex (1.41 [1.27-1.55]), vascular dementia (1.17 [1.01-1.36]), and mixed dementia (1.21 [1.06-1.39]). Dementia with Lewy bodies (0.64 [0.44-0.94]), Parkinson disease dementia (0.46 [0.28-0.75]), and treatment with antidepressants (0.85 [0.77-0.95]) were less common among patients with diabetes. Patients with diabetes who had Alzheimer disease obtained significantly less treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors (0.78 [0.63-0.95]) and memantine (0.68 [0.54-0.85]).Conclusions: Patients with diabetes were younger at dementia diagnosis and obtained less dementia medication for Alzheimer disease, suggesting less optimal dementia treatment. Future research should evaluate survival and differences in metabolic profile in patients with diabetes and different dementia disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Driving constitutes a very important aspect of daily life and is dependent on cognitive functions such as attention, visuo-spatial skills and memory, which are often compromised in dementia. Therefore, the driving fitness of patients with dementia needs to be addressed by physicians and those that are deemed unfit should not be allowed to continue driving.Objective: We aimed at investigating to what extent physicians assess driving fitness in dementia patients and determinant factors for revoking of their licenses.Methods: This study includes 15113 patients with newly diagnosed dementia and driver's license registered in the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem). The main outcomes were reporting to the licensing authority and making an agreement about driving eligibility with the patients.Results: Physicians had not taken any action in 16% of dementia patients, whereas 9% were reported to the authority to have their licenses revoked. Males (OR = 3.04), those with an MMSE score between 20-24 (OR = 1.35) and 10-19 (OR = 1.50), patients with frontotemporal (OR = 3.09) and vascular dementia (OR = 1.26) were more likely to be reported to the authority.Conclusion: For the majority of patients with dementia, driving fitness was assessed. Nevertheless, physicians did not address the issue in a sizeable proportion of dementia patients. Type of dementia, cognitive status, age, sex and burden of comorbidities are independent factors associated with the assessment of driving fitness in patients with dementia. Increased knowledge on how these factors relate to road safety may pave the way for more specific guidelines addressing the issue of driving in patients with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Heart failure ( HF) and dementia frequently coexist, but little is known about their types, relationships to each other and prognosis. The aims were to (i) describe patients with HF and dementia, assess (ii) the proportion of specific dementia disorders in types of HF based on ejection fraction and (iii) the prognostic role of types of HF and dementia disorders. Methods and results The Swedish Heart Failure Registry ( RiksSvikt) and The Swedish Dementia Registry ( SveDem) were record-linked. Associations between dementia disorders and HF types were assessed with multinomial logistic regression and survival was investigated with Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable Cox regression. We studied 775 patients found in both registries (55% men, mean age 82 years). Ejection fraction was preserved in 38% of patients, reduced in 34%, and missing in 28%. The proportions of dementia disorders were similar across HF types. Vascular dementia was the most common dementia disorder (36%), followed by other dementias (28%), mixed dementia (20%), and Alzheimer disease (16%). Over a mean follow-up of 1.5 years, 76% of patients survived 1 year. We observed no significant differences in survival with regard to HF type ( P = 0.2) or dementia disorder ( P = 0.5). After adjustment for baseline covariates, neither HF types nor dementia disorders were independently associated with survival. Conclusions Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction was the most common HF type and vascular dementia was the most common dementia disorder. The proportions of dementia disorders were similar across HF types. Neither HF types nor specific dementia disorders were associated with survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem) was developed with the aim to improve the quality of diagnostic work-up, treatment and care of patients with dementia disorders in Sweden. Methods: SveDem is an internet based quality registry where several indicators can be followed over time. It includes information about the diagnostic work-up, medical treatment and community support (). The patients are diagnosed and followed-up yearly in specialist units, primary care centres or in nursing homes. Results: The database was initiated in May 2007 and covers almost all of Sweden. There were 28 722 patients registered with a mean age of 79.3 years during 2007–2012. Each participating unit obtains continuous online statistics from its own registrations and they can be compared with regional and national data. A report from SveDem is published yearly to inform medical and care professionals as well as political and administrative decision-makers about the current quality of diagnostics, treatment and care of patients with dementia disorders in Sweden. Conclusion: SveDem provides knowledge about current dementia care in Sweden and serves as a framework for ensuring the quality of diagnostics, treatment and care across the country. It also reflects changes in quality dementia care over time. Data from SveDem can be used to further develop the national guidelines for dementia and to generate new research hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Administration of several cardiovascular drugs has an effect on dementia. We aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the use of cardiovascular medication between different dementia disorders. Methods We obtained information about dementia patients from the Swedish Dementia Registry. Patients were diagnosed with one of these dementia disorders: Alzheimer's disease (n = 8,139), mixed dementia (n = 5,203), vascular dementia (n = 4,982), Lewy body dementia (n = 605), frontotemporal dementia (n = 409) and Parkinson's disease dementia (n = 405). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between use of cardiovascular medication and dementia disorders, after adjustment for age, gender, living alone, cognitive status and total number of drugs (a proxy for overall co-morbidity). Results Seventy percent of all the dementia patients used cardiovascular medication. Use of cardiovascular drugs is common in patients with vascular and mixed dementia. Male gender, higher age, slightly better cognitive status and living with another person was associated with use of cardiovascular medication. Conclusions Cardiovascular medication is used extensively across dementia disorders and particularly in vascular and mixed dementia. Future research should investigate the tolerability and effectiveness of these drugs in the different dementia disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the dementia diagnostic process and drug prescription for persons with dementia (PWD) with different socioeconomic status (SES). Register-based cohort study. This study included 74,414 PWD aged ≥65 years from the Swedish Dementia Register (2007–2018). Their data were linked with the Swedish Longitudinal Integrated Database for Health Insurance and Labor Market Studies (2006–2017) to acquire the SES information 1 year before dementia diagnosis. Education and income—2 traditional SES indicators—were divided into 5 levels. Outcomes comprised the dementia diagnostic examinations, types of dementia diagnosis, diagnostic unit, and prescription of antidementia drugs. Binary logistic regression was performed to evaluate socioeconomic inequalities. Compared to PWD with the lowest educational level, PWD with the highest educational level had a higher probability of receiving the basic diagnostic workup [odds ratio (OR) 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-1.29], clock test (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.02-1.24) and neuroimaging (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.09-1.39). Compared with PWD in the lowest income quintile, PWD in the highest income quintile presented a higher chance of receiving the basic diagnostic workup (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.26-1.46), clock test (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.28-1.52), blood analysis (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.06-1.39), Mini-Mental State Examination (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.26-1.70), and neuroimaging (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.18-1.44). PWD with higher education or income had a higher likelihood of obtaining a specified dementia diagnosis or being diagnosed at a memory clinic. SES presented no association with prescription of antidementia medication, except for the association between education and the use of memantine. Higher education or income was significantly associated with higher chance of receiving dementia diagnostic examinations, a specified dementia diagnosis, being diagnosed at a memory clinic, and using memantine. Socioeconomic inequalities in dementia diagnostic process and prescription of memantine occurred among PWD with different education or income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence is lacking on how treatment of comorbidities improves outcomes in patients with dementia. In this study, we evaluated temporal changes in the management of comorbidities in relation to survival rates in incident dementia over a 10-year period in Sweden. Observational cohort study. A total of 40,219 patients with recently diagnosed dementia in memory clinics from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem) from 2008 to 2017. In 1-year blocks, pharmacological treatment of dementia and comorbidities in relationship to risk for fractures, major cardiovascular events (MACE), and death were analyzed using Cox models. Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIR) of death are presented. After standardization for demographics and comorbidities, the risk of fracture, MACE, and mortality decreased by 16%, 23%, and 28%, respectively, between 2008 and 2016. Each year decreased the risk of fracture by 3% (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.96–0.99), MACE by 4% (0.96, 0.95–0.97), and death by 5% (0.95, 0.93–0.97). Adjustment for changes in medication use attenuated these associations. Compared with the general population, the risk of death declined by 11%, corresponding to standardized incidence rate ratio, between 2008 and 2016. Over 10 years, a reduction in the short-term risks of fracture, MACE, and death in patients with dementia was associated with changes in drug prescribing practices. These improvements seem to be partly explained by progressive implementation of dementia diagnostic, treatment guidelines, and general management of comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective To assess all-cause mortality patients with dementia treated with typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs (APDs). Design Registry-based cohort study. Setting and participants A total of 58,412 patients diagnosed with dementia and registered in the Swedish Dementia Registry were included in the study. Of the study sample, 2526 of the patients were prescribed APDs. Of these, 602 patients were prescribed typical APDs and 1833 patients were prescribed atypical APDs. Ninety-one patients were prescribed both typical and atypical APDs. Measurements All-cause mortality based on Swedish Cause of Death Register. Adjusted hazard ratios of mortality were calculated according to class of APDs (typical or atypical) prescribed. Final models were adjusted for age at dementia diagnosis, sex, Charlson comorbidity index, living arrangement, and Mini-Mental State Examination. Results In the adjusted models, use of APDs at the time of dementia diagnosis was associated with increased mortality risk in the total cohort (hazard ratio = 1.4; 95% confidence interval 1.3–1.5). After stratifying for dementia types, increased mortality risks associated with APDs were found in patients with Alzheimer's disease, mixed dementia, unspecified dementia, and vascular dementia. Higher risk for mortality was found with typical APDs in patients with mixed and vascular dementia and with atypical APDs in patients with Alzheimer's disease, mixed, unspecified, and vascular dementia. Furthermore, in patients with Alzheimer's disease who had typical APDs, use lower risk of death emerged in comparison with patients with atypical APDs. Conclusions/Implications Both the use of atypical and typical APDs increased the risk of death in patients with dementia even after adjusting for differences in basic characteristics between groups. Although we cannot rule out the influence of residual confounding, these results would seem to add to studies suggesting caution in APD prescription for patients with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives Medication-induced hyposalivation can increase the risk for oral complications, including dental caries and tooth loss. This problem is particularly important in people with dementia because of their declining ability to maintain oral care. The objective of this study was to describe the association between the number of xerostomic medications used and tooth loss and restorative and dental preventive treatment in a population of persons with dementia. Design A longitudinal population-based register study with a 3-year follow-up was conducted. Data were extracted from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem), the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register (SPDR), the Swedish National Patient Register (SNPR), and the Dental Health Register (DHR). Setting and participants Participants were persons with dementia who were registered in the SveDem at the time of their dementia diagnosis. Measures The exposure was continuous use of xerostomic medications over the 3 years prior to dementia diagnosis (baseline). The outcomes were the incidence of tooth extractions, tooth restorations, and dental preventive procedures. Poisson regression models were used to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for the association between the exposure and outcomes, adjusting for relevant confounders. Results A total of 34,037 persons were included in the analysis. A dose-response relationship between the exposure and tooth extractions was observed. Compared with nonusers of xerostomic medication, the rate of tooth extractions increased with increasing number of xerostomic medications used (IRR = 1.03, 1.11, and 1.40 for persons using an average >0-1, >1-3, and >3 xerostomic medications, respectively). However, the risk for having new dental restorations and receiving preventive procedures did not differ between groups. Conclusion Continuous use of xerostomic medications can increase the risk for tooth extraction in people with dementia. This study highlights the importance of careful consideration when prescribing xerostomic medications to people with dementia, and the need for regular and ongoing dental care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]