Living Alone with Alzheimer's Disease: Data from SveDem, the Swedish Dementia Registry.
BACKGROUND
Many people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) live alone in their own homes. There is a lack of knowledge about whether these individuals receive the same quality of diagnostics and treatment for AD as patients who are cohabiting.


OBJECTIVES
To investigate the diagnostic work-up and treatment of community-dwelling AD patients who live alone.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional cohort study based on data from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem). We studied patients diagnosed with AD between 2007 and 2015 (n = 26,163). Information about drugs and comorbidities was acquired from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register and the Swedish Patient Register.


RESULTS
11,878 (46%) patients lived alone, primarily older women. After adjusting for confounders, living alone was inversely associated with receiving computed tomography (OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.82-0.99), magnetic resonance imaging (OR 0.91; 95% CI 0.83-0.99), and lumbar puncture (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.80-0.92). Living alone was also negatively associated with the use of cholinesterase inhibitors (OR 0.81; 95% CI 0.76; 0.87), memantine (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.72; 0.83), and cardiovascular medication (OR 0.92; 0.86; 0.99). On the other hand, living alone was positively associated with the use of antidepressants (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.08; 1.22), antipsychotics (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.25; 1.58), and hypnotics and sedatives (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.02; 1.17).


CONCLUSIONS
Solitary living AD patients do not receive the same extent of care as those who are cohabiting.
['Cermakova|Pavla|P|', 'Nelson|Maja|M|', 'Secnik|Juraj|J|', 'Garcia-Ptacek|Sara|S|', 'Johnell|Kristina|K|', 'Fastbom|Johan|J|', 'Kilander|Lena|L|', 'Winblad|Bengt|B|', 'Eriksdotter|Maria|M|', 'Religa|Dorota|D|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D000544:Alzheimer Disease D000928:Antidepressive Agents D014150:Antipsychotic Agents D015331:Cohort Studies D015897:Comorbidity D003704:Dementia D005260:Female D006801:Humans D057187:Independent Living D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging D008297:Male D012042:Registries D012924:Social Conditions D013548:Sweden
dementia diagnostics treatment solitary living Alzheimer’s disease