Abstract

Introduction: Vascular dementia is a significant cause of cognitive decline, gait instability, and is associated with stroke risk factors, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. The incidence of ischemic stroke has been declining over the past several decades with improved secondary stroke prevention and care systems. Of several stroke risk factors, diabetes and atrial fibrillation have been identified as co-variates associated with rates of vascular dementia in hospitalized patients. We hypothesize that the frequency of secondary diagnosis for vascular dementia will decline over time between 2006 to 2014 and that the rates of vascular dementia diagnosis may vary by region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West). Methods: The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database from 2006-2014 was used to query patients with vascular dementia using ICD-9 codes 290.40, 290.41, 290.43. Two-way ANOVA was used to assess for differences in vascular dementia diagnosis frequency over time. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to test the trend of vascular dementia diagnosis code usage in the database over study years and its interaction with region while, controlling for age, gender, race, and diagnosis of diabetes and atrial fibrillation. Results: On average, there were 31,123,558 ± 800,912 total admissions per year between 2006-2014. The mean age was 79, 55% female, 31% non-Caucasian. There were no significant differences in patient demographics between the regions. The mean frequency of vascular dementia diagnosis per year nationwide was 0.33% (SD, 0.03), ranging from 0.28% in 2006 to 0.34% in 2014. The frequency of vascular dementia diagnosis did not decrease during the study period. After controlling for race, age, gender, diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, and diabetes, there was no association between frequency of vascular dementia diagnoses and region. Conclusion: Despite advances in cardiovascular disease risk reduction, the frequency of hospitalizations associated with vascular dementia diagnoses in this database remained unchanged over a nine-year time span. This demonstrates that more research is needed to develop more effective preventative therapies to decrease vascular dementia.

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