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Unmet Needs for Assistance related to Subjective Cognitive Decline among Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the US: Prevalence and Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life

Supporting Files
File Language:
English


Details

  • Alternative Title:
    Int Psychogeriatr
  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Objectives

    To estimate the prevalence of unmet needs for assistance among middle-aged and older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in the US and to evaluate whether unmet needs were associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

    Design

    Cross-sectional study

    Setting

    United States – 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico

    Participants

    Community-dwelling adults aged 45 years and older who completed the Cognitive Decline module on the 2015–2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, reported experiencing SCD, and always, usually, or sometimes needed assistance with day-to-day activities because of SCD.

    Measurements

    We defined SCD as confusion or memory loss that was happening more often or getting worse over the past 12 months. Respondents with SCD were considered to have an unmet need for assistance if they sometimes, rarely, or never got the help they needed with day-to-day activities. We measured three domains of HRQOL: (1) mental (frequent mental distress, ≥14 days of poor mental health in the past 30 days), (2) physical (frequent physical distress, ≥14 days of poor physical health in the past 30 days), and (3) social (SCD always, usually, or sometimes interfered with the ability to work, volunteer, or engage in social activities outside the home). We used log-binomial regression models to estimate prevalence ratios (PR). All estimates were weighted.

    Results

    40.4% of people who needed SCD-related assistance reported an unmet need. Among respondents without depression, an unmet need was associated with a higher prevalence of frequent mental distress (PR=1.60, 95%CI:1.15–2.23, p=0.005). Frequent physical distress and social limitations did not differ between people with met and unmet needs.

    Conclusions

    Middle-aged and older adults with SCD-related needs for assistance frequently did not have those needs met, which could negatively impact their mental health. Interventions to identify and meet the unmet needs among people with SCD may improve HRQOL.

  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Source:
    Int Psychogeriatr. 33(7):689-702
  • Pubmed ID:
    32883384
  • Pubmed Central ID:
    PMC8630807
  • Document Type:
  • Funding:
  • Place as Subject:
  • Volume:
    33
  • Issue:
    7
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha256:620ff3f97d16e747847f2ef16e75dfb50db0e1044bbafe6511de2ae64fb321ca
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 549.12 KB ]
File Language:
English
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