title: Living Alone with Dementia: Prevalence, Correlates and the Utilization of Health and Nursing Care Services.
abstract: Little is known about the proportion and the characteristics of community-dwelling people with dementia (PWD) living alone in Germany.
  
  
  
  To analyze the prevalence of PWD living alone (with and without the support of an informal caregiver) and socio-demographical and clinical characteristics as well as health and nursing care utilization associated with living alone.
  
  
  
  DelpHi-MV (Dementia: Life- and person-centered help in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) is a general practitioner-based, randomized controlled intervention trial. The present analyses are based on baseline data of 511 patients (≥70 years, community-dwelling) who had screened positive for dementia (DemTect <9).
  
  
  
  N = 251 (51%) of the patients lived alone. PWD living alone were statistically significantly more often female, older, and more often widowed than those not living alone. About 9% of the patients (n = 24) were not supported by any informal caregiver. Regarding the clinical variables (cognitive and functional impairment, depression, falls, number of drug-related problems, malnutrition, quality of life), there were no statistically significant group differences. Patients living alone utilized professional services such as home care, help with medication, home-delivered meals, or housekeeping assistance significantly more often. Multivariate analyses confirmed these findings.
  
  
  
  Our results reveal the high proportion of PWD living alone in Germany. PWD living alone did not seem to be at an increased health risk. Our findings indicate that living alone with dementia is possible. In order to ensure the sufficient provision of health and nursing care services for PWD living alone, providers should consider the present results for future planning.
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Tilly
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.|Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hertel
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wucherer
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Michalowsky
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.|Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Adina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dreier
authors.affiliation: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen René
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Thyrian
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Ambulatory care; dementia; living arrangements; primary health care