Rising rates of hospitalization for dementia in people with type 2 diabetes and the general population in Australia

Background Few recent studies have examined the trends in dementia hospitalization in high-income countries. Objective To estimate the trends in hospitalization for dementia in people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and the general population in Australia using linked, national databases. Methods Australians with T2DM and registered on the National Diabetes Services Scheme (n = 438,264), and the general population (n = 8,090,993) from 2010–2011 to 2016–2017 served as the study cohort. Annual rates of hospitalization for dementia were calculated for these individuals aged ≥50 years. Following this, the trends in the rate of hospitalization were estimated using joinpoint regression and summarized as annual percent changes (APCs). Results Increases in hospitalization for dementia over time were observed for the T2DM and the general population; APC 5.2 (95% CI 3.5, 7.3) and 9.4 (95% CI 3.8, 14.3), respectively. The absolute age- and sex-standardized rate of dementia hospitalization was found to be higher in the T2DM than the general population. For vascular dementia, a higher rate of hospitalization was observed for the T2DM population compared to the general population. Conversely, the rate of hospitalization for Alzheimer's disease was higher in the general population than in the T2DM cohort. Further, a higher dementia hospitalization rate was observed among males compared to females in both T2DM, and the general population. Conclusions Despite the previous studies reporting a decline in dementia incidence in high-income countries, the rate of dementia hospitalization in Australia has risen steadily from 2010–2016 in both T2DM individuals and the general population.