CPH Faculty, Alumni, and Students Author Article on Alzheimers Disease

Sylvester Orimaye, Research Associate with the Center for Applied Research and Evaluation for Women’s Health in East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health, has authored an article in Southern Medical Journal.  The article, Increased Prevalence in Alzheimer Disease in the Northeast Tennessee Region of the United States, describes the changes in  Alzheimer’s Disease prevalence in the northeast Tennessee region over a 3-year period.

Jodi Southerland and Aderonke Ajibade, alumni, and Adekunle Oke, current doctoral student in the College of Public Health, are co-authors.

The article also examines several beliefs pertinent to the clinical management of Alzheimer disease in the northeast Tennessee from the perspective of professionals delivering services.

The cost of Alzheimer disease to the United States government was estimated to be $259 billion in 2017.  This cost is expected to rise to $1.1 trillion by the year 2050.  More importantly, Alzheimer’s Disease creates a great burden on caregivers. At least 15.9 million caregivers provide unpaid care for people with the disease, often requiring them to give up their careers. These caregivers provide an estimated 18.2 billion hours of informal care, worth approximately $230 billion in 2016.

Based on Medicare beneficiary data, the rural northeast Tennessee region has a higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease than its urban counterpart. This is consistent with known literature’s reporting a higher prevalence of many chronic diseases in rural over urban regions. When both rural and urban parts of the region were combined, however, there was a higher prevalence than for the rest of the state during the three years of the study.

Further research is necessary to understand the variation in the prevalence within the state. The healthcare providers surveyed suggested that the most significant barriers to early diagnosis were patient and family denial of the problem, lack of patient awareness of services available for the early stages of onset, and the lack of availability of efficient screening methods for providers. Addressing specifics such as this should be helpful as a part of early screening program development.

The mission of the Southern Medical Journal is to improve quality of patient care through multi-specialty inter-professional education.