1. Incidence of Dementia Among Medicare Beneficiaries With and Without Urinary Incontinence.
- Author
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High RA, Ford CB, Handa VL, and Anger J
- Abstract
Importance: Dementia and urinary incontinence (UI) have been associated in cross-sectional studies. The temporal relationship between these 2 conditions is not well understood., Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the risk of incident dementia in female adults with and without UI using the Medicare 5% Limited Data Set., Study Design: This retrospective cohort study matched females with UI to continent controls by index year, age, and dual Medicare/Medicaid eligibility. A 2-year look back period was used to exclude prevalent dementia and neurologic disorders. The 5-year cumulative incidence of dementia was estimated for women with UI and controls. Cox proportional hazard models assessed the association of variables with dementia, adjusting for age, dual Medicare/Medicaid eligibility, race, and comorbidities., Results: A total of 8,651 female beneficiaries with UI (n = 8,651) were more likely than matched controls (n = 8,651) to report White race and several medical comorbidities. The 5-year cumulative incidence of dementia diagnosis was lower in the UI versus controls (8.8% vs 10.6%, P < 0.001). In multivariable analysis with adjustment for covariates, UI diagnosis was associated with a lower hazard of dementia diagnosis (hazard ratio 0.82 [0.74, 0.91], P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Among female Medicare beneficiaries without baseline neurologic disorders, having any UI diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of dementia diagnosis. Further studies assessing UI symptoms and dementia diagnosis with rigorous and valid assessment tools are needed to confirm this finding., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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