General Practice Clinical Data Help Identify Dementia Hotspots: A Novel Geospatial Analysis Approach

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Geographical clustering of dementia and its relationship with socio-demographic factors remain poorly understood.
• Assessing spatial variations in dementia risk is crucial for understanding disease distribution and developing targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compute dementia risk scores for individuals.
• To assess spatial variations in dementia risk.
• To identify dementia risk clusters (hotspots) and their association with socioeconomic status.

Main Methods:

• Utilized clinical records from 16 general practices in West Adelaide, Australia (N=14,746).
• Estimated dementia risk using The Australian National University-Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index.
• Applied hotspot analyses to identify spatial clusters of dementia risk at a small area level.

Main Results:

• Significant dementia risk hotspots were observed in eastern and southern areas, with coldspots in the western area.
• Dementia risk hotspots were notably concentrated in low socioeconomic communities.
• Increased dementia risk was associated with age, female sex, high cholesterol, inactivity, living alone, and comorbidities like diabetes and depression. Smoking showed an inverse association.

Conclusions:

• Geographical clustering of dementia risk exists, particularly in lower socioeconomic areas.
• Identifying dementia risk clusters provides insights into localized risk factors and enables community-level risk quantification.
• Findings can inform policymakers in tailoring geographically specific early prevention strategies for dementia.