Dementia Incidence Rate Before and After Implementing the National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care in...

The National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care was implemented in September 2017 in Korea. This study aimed to compare dementia incidence in Seoul and Gangwon-do before and after the implementation of this policy.

We extracted insurance claim data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for people diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia for the first time in Seoul and Gangwon-do, Korea. We defined two enrollment groups based on the policy implementation date: 1) January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016 (Index 1, pre-implementation), and 2) January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018 (Index 2, post-implementation). Each group was followed up for 1 year from the time of enrollment. Then, we calculated hazard ratios to compare the incidence of dementia between the two groups, and between Seoul and Gangwon-do.

In Seoul, the incidence of dementia was significantly lower in Index 2 than in Index 1 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.926; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.875-0.979). However, the incidence rate did not differ between the 2 groups (HR, 1.113; 95% CI, 0.966-1.281) in Gangwon-do. In Index 1, the incidence of dementia did not differ between Seoul and Gangwon-do (HR, 1.043; 95% CI, 0.941-1.156), but in Index 2, was significantly higher in Gangwon-do than in Seoul (HR, 1.240; 95% CI, 1.109-1.386).

After implementing the National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care, the dementia incidence rate decreased significantly in Seoul, consistent with other studies, but not in Gangwon-do.