Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
JMIR Aging. 2024 Jun 10;7:e58205. doi: 10.2196/58205.
With the population aging, the number of people living with dementia is expected to rise, which, in turn, is expected to lead to an increase in the prevalence of missing incidents due to critical wandering. However, the estimated prevalence of missing incidents due to dementia is inconclusive in some jurisdictions and overlooked in others.
The aims of the study were to examine (1) the demographic, psychopathological, and environmental antecedents to missing incidents due to critical wandering among older adult MedicAlert Foundation Canada (hereinafter MedicAlert) subscribers; and (2) the characteristics and outcomes of the missing incidents.
This study used a retrospective descriptive design. The sample included 434 older adult MedicAlert subscribers involved in 560 missing incidents between January 2015 and July 2021.
The sample was overrepresented by White older adults (329/425, 77.4%). MedicAlert subscribers reported missing were mostly female older adults (230/431, 53.4%), living in urban areas with at least 1 family member (277/433, 63.8%). Most of the MedicAlert subscribers (345/434, 79.5%) self-reported living with dementia. MedicAlert subscribers went missing most frequently from their private homes in the community (96/143, 67.1%), traveling on foot (248/270, 91.9%) and public transport (12/270, 4.4%), during the afternoon (262/560, 46.8%) and evening (174/560, 31.1%). Most were located by first responders (232/486, 47.7%) or Good Samaritans (224/486, 46.1%). Of the 560 missing incidents, 126 (22.5%) were repeated missing incidents. The mean time between missing incidents was 11 (SD 10.8) months. Finally, the majority of MedicAlert subscribers were returned home safely (453/500, 90.6%); and reports of harm, injuries (46/500, 9.2%), and death (1/500, 0.2%) were very low.
This study provides the prevalence of missing incidents from 1 database source. The low frequency of missing incidents may not represent populations that are not White. Despite the low number of missing incidents, the 0.2% (1/500) of cases resulting in injuries or death are devastating experiences that may be mitigated through prevention strategies.
随着人口老龄化，预计患有痴呆症的人数将会增加，这反过来又会导致因严重走失而导致的失踪事件的发生率上升。然而，在一些司法管辖区，痴呆症导致的失踪事件的估计发生率尚无定论，而在其他一些司法管辖区则被忽视。
本研究旨在探讨（1）老年 MedicAlert 基金会加拿大（以下简称 MedicAlert）用户因严重走失而发生失踪事件的人口统计学、精神病理学和环境因素；以及（2）失踪事件的特征和结果。
本研究采用回顾性描述性设计。样本包括 2015 年 1 月至 2021 年 7 月期间参与 560 次失踪事件的 434 名老年 MedicAlert 用户。
该样本中白人老年人（329/425，77.4%）占比过高。报告失踪的 MedicAlert 用户大多为女性老年人（230/431，53.4%），居住在至少有 1 名家庭成员的城市地区（277/433，63.8%）。大多数 MedicAlert 用户（345/434，79.5%）自我报告患有痴呆症。 MedicAlert 用户最常从他们在社区的私人住宅（96/143，67.1%）、步行（248/270，91.9%）和公共交通工具（12/270，4.4%）上走失，在下午（262/560，46.8%）和晚上（174/560，31.1%）。大多数是由第一反应者（232/486，47.7%）或好心人（224/486，46.1%）找到的。在 560 次失踪事件中，有 126 次（22.5%）是重复失踪事件。两次失踪事件之间的平均时间为 11 个月（SD 10.8）。最后，大多数 MedicAlert 用户都被安全送回家（453/500，90.6%）；报告的伤害、受伤（46/500，9.2%）和死亡（1/500，0.2%）的情况非常低。
本研究提供了来自 1 个数据库来源的失踪事件发生率。失踪事件的低发生率可能无法代表非白人人口。尽管失踪事件的数量很少，但 0.2%（1/500）的受伤或死亡案例是毁灭性的经历，可以通过预防策略加以缓解。
