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Using Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA) linked to administrative data to understand how older adults in Northern Ireland transition from MCI to dementia, and to examine equity in dementia-related health care access.
Safe People
Queen's University Belfast
Academic Institute
Sharon Cruise
Safe Projects
E043
Dementia represents a significant public health issue. With population increase of older people we can expect dementia rates to also increase, impacting on health and social care services. In terms of the characteristics of people, and their use of health care, little is known about transition from the early stages of cognitive impairment (e.g., early memory problems that are self-reported by a person, known as subjective cognitive decline [SCD]), through to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and then to dementia. Greater knowledge and understanding of these transitions will help with health and social care service planning, and ensure that everyone who needs access to memory and dementia-related health care (e.g., memory clinic referrals, medications for dementia) has equal access. The Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA) is the largest study of adults aged 50+ years and living in Northern Ireland. NICOLA provides a unique and in-depth data source to answer questions about those in NI with cognitive impairments. However, by linking NICOLA data to relevant administrative data (i.e., memory clinic referrals and prescription data) we can create an enhanced data resource that allows us to estimate the proportions of NI older adults who have progressed from SCD to MCI to dementia over time. We can also carry out a detailed study of the patient’s journey and an examination of the equity of access to services such as memory clinics or disease modifying medication and the factors associated with the use of memory/dementia-related health care.
Knowing that an average of 32% of those with MCI progress to Alzheimer’s within a five-year period, it is particularly important to establish how many of those eligible (on the basis of their current cognitive state) are/are not availing of memory and dementia-related health care (e.g., memory clinics and medications), and to examine and understand the factors associated with variances in health care usage. Linking NICOLA with administrative data creates a new and unique data resource to examine the longer term outcomes, mortality rates, memory clinic referrals and medications use of those identified as having MCI or dementia. This information is invaluable in informing future health and social care planning. The unique potential of NICOLA data linked to administrative data will allow us, for the first time in NI, to undertake a detailed study of the patient’s journey, and an assessment of the equity of access to services such as memory clinics or disease modifying medication and the factors associated with memory/dementia-related health care usage.
07/05/2019
Safe Data
Memory Clinic Usage (external)
Safe Setting
TRE