Objectives
This study estimated the prevalence of diagnosed dementia among Indiana Medicaid beneficiaries in 2004. The dependence of prevalence estimates upon use of several patient selection criteria to identify patients with dementia also was evaluated.
Methods
Indiana Medicaid claims data were analyzed for the period July 1, 2002 to December 31, 2004. An expert panel survey was conducted to assess perceived specificity of ICD codes used in previous studies to define dementia. Prevalence estimates were calculated with varying levels of each selection criteria, that is, ICD code set, interval of data examined, and number of occurrences of dementia-related claims. To assess specificity and sensitivity of the dementia patient selection criteria, Minimum Data Set data for a subset of beneficiaries that resided in a nursing home any time in 2004 were examined.
Results…
