Rural-Urban Differences in Healthcare Use in Persons With Dementia Between 2000 and 2019: A Quebec Population-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Rural persons with dementia face medical services gaps. This study compares the health service utilization of rural and urban community-dwelling individuals with incident dementia.

METHODS: This study used a repeated annual cross-sectional cohort design spanning a period from 2000 to 2019 analyzing age-adjusted rates for 20 indicators of service use and mortality one year after diagnosis in Quebec administrative databases.

RESULTS: Of 237,259 persons, 20.1% were rural. Most rural persons had more emergency department visits and hospitalizations, shorter stays, less alternate level of care and fewer family physicians' and cognition specialists' visits. All groups had similar long-term care and mortality rates.

CONCLUSION: Policy implications of these disparities are discussed.