IMPORTANCE Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been identified as a risk factor for the development of dementia. However, few studies have focused on the association between SES and dementia diagnostic evaluation on a population level. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether household income (HHI) is associated with dementia diagnosis and cognitive severity at the time of diagnosis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This population-and register-based cross-sectional study analyzed health, social, and economic data obtained from various Danish national registers. The study population comprised individuals who received a first-time referral for a diagnostic evaluation for dementia to the secondary health care sector of Denmark between January 1, 2017, and December 17, 2018. Dementia-related health data were retrieved from the Danish Quality Database for Dementia. Data analysis was conducted from October 2019 to December 2020. EXPOSURES Annual HHI (used as a proxy for SES) for 2015 and 2016 was obtained from Statistics Denmark and categorized into upper, middle, and lower tertiles within 5-year interval age groups. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Dementia diagnoses (Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson disease dementia, or other) and cognitive stages at diagnosis (cognitively intact; mild cognitive impairment but not dementia; or mild, moderate, or severe dementia) were retrieved from the database. Univariable and multivariable logistic and linear regressions adjusted for age group, sex, region of residence, household type, period (2017 and 2018), medication type, and medical conditions were analyzed for a possible association between HHI and receipt of dementia diagnosis. RESULTS Among the 10 191 individuals (mean [SD] age, 75 [10] years; 5476 women [53.7%])included in the study, 8844 (86.8%) were diagnosed with dementia. Individuals with HHI in the upper tertile compared with those with lower-tertile HHI were less likely to receive a dementia diagnosis after referral (odds ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.55-0.78) and, if diagnosed with dementia, had less severe cognitive stage (β, −0.16; 95% CI, −0.21 to −0.10). Individuals with middle-tertile HHI did not significantly differ from those with lower-tertile HHI in terms of dementia diagnosis (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.77-1.09) and cognitive stage at diagnosis (β, 0.01; 95% CI, −0.04 to 0.06). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThe results of this study revealed a social inequality in dementia diagnostic evaluation: in Denmark, people with higher income seem to receive an earlier diagnosis.Public health strategies should target people with lower SES for earlier dementia detection and intervention.

PurposeTo determine the impact of socioeconomic position (SEP) and distance to provider on outpatient mental health care utilization among incident users of antidepressants.MethodA nationwide register-based cohort study of 50,374 person-years.ResultsPersons in low SEP were more likely to have outpatient psychiatrist contacts [odds ratio (OR) 1.25; confidence interval (CI) 1.17–1.34], but less likely to consult a co-payed psychologist (OR 0.49; CI 0.46–0.53) and to get mental health service from a GP (MHS-GP) (OR 0.81; CI 0.77–0.86) compared to persons in high SEP after adjusting for socio-demographics, comorbidity and car ownership. Furthermore, persons in low SEP who had contact to any of these therapists tended to have lower rates of visits compared to those in high SEP. When distance to services increased by 5 km, the rate of visits to outpatient psychiatrist tended to decrease by 5% in the lowest income group (IRR 0.95; CI 0.94–0.95) and 1% in the highest (IRR 0.99; CI 0.99–1.00). Likewise, contact to psychologists decreased by 11% in the lowest income group (IRR 0.89; CI 0.85–0.94), whereas rate of visits did not interact.ConclusionPatients in low SEP have relatively lower utilization of mental health services even when services are free at delivery; co-payment and distance to provider aggravate the disparities in utilization between patients in high SEP and patients in low SEP.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00127-017-1437-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

ObjectiveExamine whether the severity of symptoms of depression was associated with the type of mental healthcare treatment (MHCT) received, independent of socioeconomic position (SEP).DesignRegister-based 6-month follow-up study on participants from the Danish General Suburban Population Study (GESUS) 2010–2013, who scored the Major Depression Inventory (MDI).ParticipantsNineteen thousand and eleven respondents from GESUS.InterventionsThe MHCT of the participants was tracked in national registers 4 months prior and 6 months after their MDI scores. MHCT was graduated in levels. SEP was defined by years of formal postsecondary education and income categorised into three levels. Data were analysed using logistic and Poisson regression analyses.OutcomesMHCT included number of contacts with: general practitioner (GP), GP mental health counselling, psychologist, psychiatrist, emergency contacts, admissions to psychiatric hospitals and prescriptions of antidepressants.ResultsFor 547 respondents with moderate to severe symptoms of depression there was no difference across SEP in use of services, contact (y/n), frequency of contact or level of treatment, except respondents with low SEP had more frequent contact with their GP. However, of the 547 respondents, 10% had no treatment contacts at all, and 47% had no treatment beyond GP consultation. Among respondents with no/few symptoms of depression, postsecondary education ≥3 years was associated with more contact with specialised services (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.92; 95% CI 1.18 to 3.13); however, this difference did not apply for income; additionally, high SEP was associated with fewer prescriptions of antidepressants (education aOR 0.69; CI 0.50 to 0.95; income aOR 0.56, CI 0.39 to 0.80) compared with low SEP.ConclusionParticipants with symptoms of depression were treated according to the severity of their symptoms, independent of SEP; however, more than half with moderate to severe symptoms received no treatment beyond GP consultation. People in low SEP and no/few symptoms of depression were more often treated with antidepressants. The study was approved by The Danish Data Protection Agency Journal number 2015-41-3984. Accessible at: https://www.datatilsynet.dk/fortegnelsen/soeg-i-fortegnelsen/