New county-level Alzheimer’s estimates may help allocate resources
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New county-level estimates of Alzheimer’s prevalence released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference may help inform allocations of funding, staffing and other resources toward caring for patients.
“These new estimates add more granular data to our understanding of Alzheimer’s prevalence across the country,” study author Kumar B. Rajan, PhD, a professor in the department of internal medicine at Rush Medical College, said in an AAIC press release. “This information, in addition to raising awareness of the Alzheimer’s crisis in specific communities, may help public health programs better allocate funding, staffing and other resources for caring for people with Alzheimer’s and all other dementia.”
Using data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project and combining it with the National Center for Health Statistics bridged-race population estimates, Rajan and colleagues evaluated county-specific prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease throughout the U.S. for adults aged 65 years and older.
The researchers found that for counties with a population of 10,000 or more individuals aged 65 years and older, the highest Alzheimer’s prevalence rates were in:
- Miami-Dade County, Florida (16.6%)
- Baltimore City, Maryland (16.6%)
- Bronx County, New York (16.6%)
- Prince George’s County, Maryland (16.1%)
- Hinds County, Mississippi (15.5%)
- Orleans Parish, Louisiana (15.4%)
- Dougherty County, Georgia (15.3%)
- Orangeburg County, California (15.2%)
- Imperial County, California (15.0%)
- El Paso County, Texas (15.0%)
Rajan and colleagues observed specific demographic characteristics that may contribute to higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s in these counties, including older average age and higher percentages of Black and Hispanic residents.
“Alzheimer’s prevalence estimates can help federal and state public health officials determine the burden on the health care system, and county-level estimates help us better understand and pinpoint areas of high risk and high need — where, for example, culturally sensitive health support and caregiver training services are needed,” Matthew Baumgart, vice president of health policy for the Alzheimer’s Association, said in the release.