Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Distance to physicians may explain some of the disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (AD/ADRD) outcomes.
METHODS
We generated round trip distance between residences of decedents with AD/ADRD and the nearest neurologist and primary care physician in Washington State.
RESULTS
The overall mean distance to the nearest neurologist and primary care physician was 17 and 4 miles, respectively. Non-Hispanic American Indian and/or Alaska Native and Hispanic decedents would have had to travel 1.12 and 1.07 times farther, respectively, to reach the nearest neurologist compared to non-Hispanic White people. Decedents in micropolitan, small town, and rural areas would have had to travel 2.12 to 4.01 times farther to reach the nearest neurologist and 1.14 to 3.32 times farther to reach the nearest primary care physician than those in metropolitan areas.
DISCUSSION
These results underscore the critical need to identify strategies to improve access to specialists and primary care physicians to improve AD/ADRD outcomes.
Highlights
Distance to neurologists and primary care physicians among decedents with AD/ADRD
American Indian and/or Alaska Native decedents lived further away from neurologists
Hispanic decedents lived further away from neurologists
Non-metropolitan decedents lived further away from neurologists and primary care
Decrease distance to physicians to improve dementia outcomes
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This post is Copyright: Solmaz Amiri,
Jonae I. Keffeler,
Dennis R. Crain,
Justin T. Denney,
Dedra Buchwald | March 20, 2024