Health‐care utilization among dementia patients with or without comorbid depression in Taiwan: A nationwide population‐based longitudinal study

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have examined the association of comorbid depression with health‐care utilization among dementia patients. This study compared health‐care utilization between dementia patients with and without comorbid depression.MethodsUsing Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 10,710 patients with newly diagnosed dementia between 2005 and 2014: 1785 had comorbid depression (group 1) and 8925 did not (group 2). Patients were tracked for 1 year to evaluate outpatient, emergency, and inpatient service utilization and length of hospital stay (LOS). Multivariable regression was applied to examine the association between comorbid depression and health‐care utilization and analyze factors associated with inpatient visits and LOS.ResultsGroup 1 had significantly fewer outpatient visits (β = −0.115; p < 0.001), more inpatient visits (β = 0.157; p = 0.005), and a longer LOS (β = 0.191; p < 0.001) than did group 2. The groups did not differ significantly in emergency visits (β = 0.030; p = 0.537). In group 1, age, gender, and specific comorbidities were predictors of inpatient visits; those factors and salary‐based insurance premiums were predictors of LOS.ConclusionGroup 1 utilized less outpatient care but more inpatient care, suggesting health‐care service for these patients may be needed to improvement.