Clinical management and associated costs for moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease in urban China: a Delphi panel study

Risk factors associated with home care safety for older people with dementia: family caregivers' perspectives

BACKGROUND

Many older people with dementia currently prefer home care; however, homes are neither professionally designed nor regulated like health care facilities, and home care is more prone to safety incidents. Many studies have examined home care safety for older people with dementia. However, factors contributing to safety incidents in home care have not been adequately considered. This study explored the risk factors for home care safety for older people with dementia based on the perspective of family caregivers.

METHODS

This study used a qualitative research approach; a total of 24 family caregivers were interviewed face-to-face and semi-structured from February 2022 to May 2022, and the Colaizzi seven-step phenomenological research method was used to analyze the data and refine the themes.

RESULTS

Safety risks in home care for older people with dementia stem from five areas: poor health of older people with dementia, dementia symptoms, unsafe home environment, the insufficient caring ability of family caregivers, and lack of safety awareness of family caregivers.

CONCLUSION

The risk factors for home care safety for older people with dementia are complex. And as the primary caregivers of older people with dementia, the caregiving ability and safety awareness of family caregivers primarily determine the safety of home care for older people with dementia. Therefore, when addressing home care safety for older people with dementia, the focus should be on providing targeted education programs and support services for family caregivers of older people with dementia.

The Humanistic and Economic Burden of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of cognitive impairment and dementia in older individuals (aged ≥ 65 years) throughout the world. As a result of these progressive deficits in cognitive, emotional, and physical function, AD dementia can cause functional disability and loss of independence. To gain a deeper understanding of the recent literature on the burden of AD, including that of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, we conducted a comprehensive targeted review of the PubMed-indexed literature (2014 to 2021) to examine the humanistic and economic burden of AD (including MCI) in North America, Europe, and Asia. Our literature review identified a range of factors associated with quality of life (QoL): some factors were positively associated with QoL, including caregiver relationship, religiosity, social engagement, and ability to engage in activities of daily living (ADL), whereas other factors such as neuropsychiatric symptoms were associated with poorer QoL. While patient- and proxy-rated QoL are highly correlated in patients with early AD dementia, proxy-rated QoL declines more substantially as severity worsens. The maintenance of self-reported QoL in patients with more severe AD dementia may be due to lack of awareness or to adaptation to circumstances. Compared to persons with normal cognition, MCI is associated with a greater cost burden, and individuals with MCI exhibit worse QoL. Key drivers of the societal economic burden of AD include disease severity, dependence level, institutionalization, and comorbidity burden. Evaluation of the impact of a hypothetical disease-modifying treatment delaying the progression from MCI to AD has suggested that such a treatment may result in cost savings.

Economic Burden and Management of Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease in 8 European Countries: The BUILDup Delphi Consensus Study

INTRODUCTION

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare chronic autoimmune disease characterised by microvascular damage, immune dysregulation and fibrosis, affecting the skin, joints and internal organs. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is frequently associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-ILD), leading to a poor prognosis and a high mortality rate. The aim of the BUILDup study (BUrden of Interstitial Lung Disease Consensus Panel) was to investigate the overall disease management and to estimate the social and economic burden of SSc-ILD across 8 European countries.

METHODS

A modified Delphi method was used to obtain information on the management of SSc-ILD patients among 40 specialists (panellists) from 8 European countries. Average annual costs per patient and country were estimated by means of a direct cost-analysis study.

RESULTS

The panellists had managed 805 SSc-ILD patients in the last year, 39.1% with limited (L-SSc-ILD) and 60.9% with extensive (E-SSc-ILD) disease. Of these, 32.8% of the panellists started treatment at diagnosis, 42.3% after signs of deterioration/progression and 24.7% when the disease had become extensive. The average annual cost of SSc-ILD per patient ranged from €6191 in Greece to €25,354 in Sweden. Main cost drivers were follow-up procedures, accounting for 80% of the total annual costs. Hospitalisations were the most important cost driver of follow-up costs. Healthcare resource use was more important for E-SSc-ILD compared to L-SSc-ILD. Early retirement was taken by 40.4% of the patients with an average of 11.9 years before the statutory retirement age.

CONCLUSIONS

SSc-ILD entails not only a clinical but also a social and economic burden, and is higher for E-SSc-ILD.

Urgent care for patients with dementia: a scoping review of associated factors and stakeholder experiences

OBJECTIVES

People with dementia are more vulnerable to complications in urgent health situations due to older age, increased comorbidity, higher dependency on others and cognitive impairment. This review explored the factors associated with urgent care use in dementia and the experiences of people with dementia, informal carers and professionals.

DESIGN

Scoping review. The search strategy and data synthesis were informed by people with dementia and carers.

DATA SOURCES

Searches of CINAHL, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed were conducted alongside handsearches of relevant journals and the grey literature through 15 January 2019.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Empirical studies including all research designs, and other published literature exploring factors associated with urgent care use in prehospital and emergency room settings for people with dementia were included. Two authors independently screened studies for inclusion.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Data were extracted using charting techniques and findings were synthesised according to content and themes.

RESULTS

Of 2967 records identified, 54 studies were included in the review. Specific factors that influenced use of urgent care included: (1) common age-related conditions occurring alongside dementia, (2) dementia as a diagnosis increasing or decreasing urgent care use, (3) informal and professional carers, (4) patient characteristics such as older age or behavioural symptoms and (5) the presence or absence of community support services. Included studies reported three crucial components of urgent care situations: (1) knowledge of the patient and dementia as a condition, (2) inadequate non-emergency health and social care support and (3) informal carer education and stress.

CONCLUSIONS

The scoping review highlighted a wider variety of sometimes competing factors that were associated with urgent care situations. Improved and increased community support for non-urgent situations, such as integrated care, caregiver education and dementia specialists, will both mitigate avoidable urgent care use and improve the experience of those in crisis.

Analysis of Risk Factors for Cognitive Dysfunction in Disabled Elderly Patients in Chengdu, China

Background

With the aging population comes an increase in functional disability that leads to dependency and institutionalization, as well as social, medical, and economic challenges. This study aimed to classify and assess the factors affecting cognitive deficits in disabled elderly people.

Material/Methods

Disabled patients ≥60 years old were assessed by face-to-face cross-sectional surveys, which were conducted using advanced peer-to-peer software. The ability to perform daily life tasks was assessed using the Modified Barthel Index. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Mini-cognitive assessment instrument. Using these surveys, 9471 individuals were included in this study. The rank-sum test was used to investigate differences between groups. Disordered multi-class logistic regression was used to correct related confounding factors for multivariate analysis.

Results

The ratios of normal cognitive function, cognitive impairment, and dementia were 3.71%, 38.59%, and 57.70%, respectively. The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis showed that older individuals (≥80 years), women, illiterate individuals, and lonely persons were more prone to dementia. Moreover, a history of hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, and fractures were significantly associated with dementia.

Conclusions

The proportion of dementia in the elderly disabled patients is very high (57.7%) in Chengdu City. Age (≥80 years), female sex, education level (illiterate individuals), living conditions, and chronic disease were closely correlated with cognitive functions.

Economic burden for Alzheimer's disease in China from 2010 to 2050: a modelling study

Objectives: We aimed to conduct a modelling study to estimate and predict the economic burden of AD to support the healthcare management of AD in China. Methods: The economic burden of AD was estimated with an evaluation of the prevalence of AD patients and a simulation of annual resource use and cost per AD patient in China using a published model. Percentage of AD patients being treated was assumed to be 5% from 2010 to 2050, with three scenarios testing the value of this parameter of 10%, 20% and 40% throughout 2020 to 2050. Results: The costs of AD were estimated to be from around 91 billion RMB in 2010 to 332 billion in 2050. Most of the current burden was related to private caregivers paid by families. With the percentage of patients being treated changing from 5% to 40%, costs were estimated to double. This was related to more hospitalisations and more use of care facilities, while the burden for families would decrease. Conclusion: A high economic burden related to AD is predicted. The burden would be driven mainly by indirect costs related to the social support of the patients. Investment in improving awareness and care of AD patients is needed and worth it.

Dementia in China: epidemiology, clinical management, and research advances

China has the largest population of patients with dementia in the world, imposing a heavy burden on the public and health care systems. More than 100 epidemiological studies on dementia have been done in China, but the estimates of the prevalence and incidence remain inconsistent because of the use of different sampling methods. Despite improved access to health services, inadequate diagnosis and management for dementia is still common, particularly in rural areas. The Chinese Government issued a new policy to increase care facilities for citizens older than 65 years, but most patients with dementia still receive care at home. Western medicines for dementia symptoms are widely used in China, but many patients choose Chinese medicines even though they have little evidence supporting efficacy. The number of clinical trials of Chinese and western medicines has substantially increased as a result of progress in research on new antidementia drugs but international multicentre studies are few in number. Efforts are needed to establish a national system of dementia care enhance training in dementia for health professionals, and develop global collaborations to prevent and cure this disease.

Cross-cultural representations of dementia: an exploratory study

Background

An ageing global population will bring a significant increase in the prevalence of dementia, with the need for a collaborative international effort to combat this public health challenge being increasingly recognised. To be successful, this cooperation must be sensitive to the different cultural environments in which dementia is positioned, which shape the variety of clinical, political and social approaches to the condition worldwide. The aim of this project is to examine the social representations of dementia among people from three countries with different health care systems. More specifically, to investigate the internal structure of the social representations of dementia within the framework of the structural approach among British, American and Chinese lay-people.

Methods

A sample of 194 participants completed a free association task and a justification task in response to the stimulus word ‘dementia’. The data was subsequently analysed within the framework of the structural approach to social representations, using prototypical analysis.

Results

The American group’s unique elements were nearly exclusively concerned with physical and cognitive decline, and elements referring to care were focused on external support, namely nursing homes. In the Chinese group, there were several elements referring to behaviour, but a much greater emphasis on cognition than predicted by the literature. Elements concerning care were, as expected, focused on the family. In the British group, there was also a cognitive focus, but this was accompanied by elements which portrayed the experience of the condition from the perspective of those affected, and a reference to relative well-being in the context of care.

Conclusions

Social representation theory proved to be a viable method in gathering data on cross-cultural differences in how dementia is understood and approached. The current study demonstrated how the conceptualisation of the condition’s relationship with the cognitive, behavioural and affective dimensions might have an impact on the structure and form of care for those living with dementia in each culture.

The needs of informal caregivers and barriers of primary care workers toward dementia management in primary care: a qualitative study in Beijing

BACKGROUND

Informal caregivers of people with dementia in Beijing are increasingly called upon to provide home-based care for their patients due to the increasing number of dementia patients and the shortage of standardized institutional solutions of care for patients in China. This study aimed to clarify the needs of informal caregivers and barriers of primary care workers toward dementia management in primary care in Beijing to provide references that may help to improve the care and services provided to individuals with dementia and their family caregivers residing in urban China.

METHODS

A mixed-methods approach was used in this study. We performed individual in-depth interviews with 10 informal caregivers. Moreover, we carried out focus group interviews with 29 primary care workers. Content analysis was used to separately identify themes and codes. Discrepancies were discussed until final agreement was achieved.

RESULTS

Three themes representing the core attitudes of informal caregivers and primary care workers were identified: care knowledge and skills, psychological counseling, and collaborative management. Most primary care workers believed that the management of dementia patients in primary care was necessary. However, due to the heavy work load and different medical specialties involved, these workers were unable to manage it.

CONCLUSIONS

Professional training focused on dementia for primary care workers should be strengthened. At the same time, the establishment of a community-based dementia team management model that includes specialists, community health service centers (CHSCs), and community committees should be explored.

Overview of dementia care under the three-tier long-term care system of China

OBJECTIVES

This paper provides an overview of the status of dementia care in Mainland China under the framework of the three-tier long-term care system proposed by the Chinese government, and gives the direction for service development.

METHODS

Official documents, annual reports of related associations, and studies conducted in Mainland China from 2006 to 2017, published both in English and Chinese were reviewed.

RESULTS

With the establishment of the three-tier long-term care system, the Government has invested a lot in long-term care, and improvements have been made. However, specific areas of dementia care still face challenges.

DISCUSSION

Strategies in improving the long-term care services have been achieved. These included training for informal caregivers at home settings, increased investment in community health centers, and increased institutional placements, etc. However, these are not enough to fulfill the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Multiple levels of training and interaction within the framework of the three-tier long-term care system as well as more research are recommended for improving dementia care.

Challenges of Dementia Care in China

Dementia results in brain dysfunction, disability and dependency among affected people, causing an overwhelming burden for caregivers. China has the largest number of people with dementia worldwide and is facing severe challenges with respect to dementia care, including poor awareness of dementia in the public, inadequate knowledge of dementia for medical professionals and caregivers, an underdeveloped dementia service system, and high costs of dementia care. To address these challenges, China is taking action to increase dementia awareness and education among the public and care providers, and develop policies, services and resources for dementia care.

The impact of predisposing, enabling, and need factors in utilization of health services among rural residents in Guangxi, China

Background

Healthcare in China has significantly improved, meanwhile many  socio-economic risk factors and health conditions factors affect accessibility and utilization of health services in rural areas. Inequity of health service in China needs to  be estimated and reduced. Andersen behavioral model is useful to assess the association of health service utilization with predisposing, enabling, and need factors.

Methods

A survey was conducted among 4634 residents of 897 households in 2012. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association of predisposing (age, gender, marital status, ethnicity and family size), enabling (education level, travel time to the nearest health facility, medical expense per capita, and health insurance coverage), and need factors (chronic disease) with the utilization of health services (i.e. physician visit and hospitalization).

Results

We observed a significant association between need factor (chronic diseases) and health service unitization, after adjusting for all predisposing and enabling factors (physician visits: odds ratio (OR) = 5.87, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 4.71–7.32; hospitalization: OR = 4.04, 95 % CI = 2.90–5.61, respectively). In addition, age, gender, marital status, family size and education level were significant predictors of health service utilization. The travel time to the nearest health facility was associated with the utilization of physician visits, and expenditure on healthcare was a hindering factor of hospitalization.

Conclusions

The predisposing and enabling factors had a minor impact on health service utilization, while the need factor was a dominant predictor of health service utilization among rural residents in China.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1825-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.