ADVERSE FINANCIAL EVENTS CAN BE A SIGN OF DEMENTIA

A group of investigators carried out a study that discovered that financial problems could be an indicator of early dementia. Some older adults had these types of problems before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases.

Nicholas L.H. et al. examined the medical records of 80,000 adults between 1999 and 2018, they found that people over 65-year, living in singleperson households and receiving medical care, missed bill payments 30 or more days late, and drops in subprime credit scores as early as 6 years prior to diagnosis of dementia or a related condition.

The investigators state that this is the first largescale study providing scientific and quantitative evidence of the relationship between dementia and financial education of the elderly; the investigators conclude that dementia causes a negative impact on daily-life activities, including the ability to manage bills and finances.

Reference:

Nicholas, L. H., Langa, K. M., Bynum, J. P., & Hsu, J. W. (2021). Financial presentation of Alzheimer disease and related dementias. JAMA internal medicine, 181(2), 220-227. DOI: 10.1001 / jamainternmed.2020.6432

Written by Jennefer Iveth Mercado Cerda. Student of the Master of Public Health, Bachelor of Public Health, Researcher in the Department of Development at CidVID.