Frequency of missed or delayed diagnosis in dementia is associated with neighborhood socioeconomic status.

INTRODUCTION

Underdetection of dementia in areas with low socioeconomic status (SES) may interfere with findings concerning associations between SES and dementia.

METHODS

Using administrative registers we assessed the associations between age- and sex-adjusted dementia incidence and neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) in 94 Danish municipalities. Wealth was divided into income quartiles and other nSES variables were dichotomized into high versus low according to the median.

RESULTS

High population density (odds ratio [OR] 1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-1.24), higher proportion of inhabitants in higher income quartiles ( for trend < .0001), and high educational level (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.15-1.22) were associated with higher incidence of dementia. High proportion of residents above 65 years was associated with lower age-adjusted dementia incidence (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.84-0.89).

DISCUSSION

Low nSES municipalities have a lower age-adjusted incidence of dementia diagnosis. These findings corroborate prior concerns that a large number of dementia diagnoses may be missed in municipalities characterized by low SES.