Against the backdrop of population aging, dementia is an increasingly relevant issue for population health. Education plays a key role in this regard, influencing the risk of developing dementia and serving as a crucial dimension in health disparities among older adults. While many studies indicate a protective effect of more years of education on the risk of dementia, the extent to which education shapes inequalities beyond the onset of the disease remains underexplored. In this study, we analyze educational differences in the risk of developing disease and in healthcare utilization among people living with dementia. Regarding the latter, we focus on the risk of first hospitalization after dementia identification. The analysis is conducted in the Lazio Region (Italy) between 2012 and 2022. We use the Lazio Longitudinal Study, combining 2011 Census data (resident population aged 50–90) and information from regional healthcare administrative databases through record linkage. We estimate Kaplan-Meier survival curves by level of education for dementia identification among disease-free individuals, and cumulative hazard functions for the risk of first subsequent hospitalization among patients identified as incident cases. Combining population-comprehensive data sources, our study contributes to current knowledge by offering novel evidence on the educational gradient in dementia incidence and healthcare utilization in Italy.
Cristofalo, A., Cascini, S., Cesaroni, G., Trappolini, E., Agabiti, N., Bargagli, A. (2025). Educational Disparities in the Risk of Dementia and Subsequent Risk of Hospitalization in Lazio Region. In Methodological and Applied Statistics and Demography III SIS 2024, Short Papers, Contributed Sessions 1 (pp.485-490). Springer [10.1007/978-3-031-64431-3_80].
Educational Disparities in the Risk of Dementia and Subsequent Risk of Hospitalization in Lazio Region
Trappolini, Eleonora;
2025
Abstract
Against the backdrop of population aging, dementia is an increasingly relevant issue for population health. Education plays a key role in this regard, influencing the risk of developing dementia and serving as a crucial dimension in health disparities among older adults. While many studies indicate a protective effect of more years of education on the risk of dementia, the extent to which education shapes inequalities beyond the onset of the disease remains underexplored. In this study, we analyze educational differences in the risk of developing disease and in healthcare utilization among people living with dementia. Regarding the latter, we focus on the risk of first hospitalization after dementia identification. The analysis is conducted in the Lazio Region (Italy) between 2012 and 2022. We use the Lazio Longitudinal Study, combining 2011 Census data (resident population aged 50–90) and information from regional healthcare administrative databases through record linkage. We estimate Kaplan-Meier survival curves by level of education for dementia identification among disease-free individuals, and cumulative hazard functions for the risk of first subsequent hospitalization among patients identified as incident cases. Combining population-comprehensive data sources, our study contributes to current knowledge by offering novel evidence on the educational gradient in dementia incidence and healthcare utilization in Italy.
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