The effect of socioeconomic status on mortality among Alzheimer’s disease patients: A nationwide population-based cohort study in Korea

To investigate the effects of household income level on all-cause mortality in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Data was obtained from 7,937 participants in the Korean National Health Insurance cohort who was newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease using the anti-dementia medication between 2003 and 2013. All individuals were followed-up until December 2013 or death, whichever came first. Individual income was estimated from the national health insurance premium. Information on mortality was obtained from the Korean National Statistical Office. Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare mortality rates between different income groups after adjusting for possible confounding risk factors. Of 7937 participants, 2292 AD patients (28.9%) died. Those with low, middle-low, middle income level were likely to have more increasing risk of mortality (HR 1.142 [1.022–1.276], HR 1.211 [1.045–1.402], and HR 1.158 [1.009–1.328], respectively), compared to those with high income level. The findings of this study indicate that AD patients with low income level have higher risk for mortality. Promotion of targeted policies and priority support for these groups may help reduce the mortality rate in this vulnerable group.