Key clinical point: Older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) living in rural communities spent more time in nursing homes and less time in the hospital compared to urban residents in the 6 years after diagnosis.

Major finding: Rural and micropolitan residents diagnosed with ADRD survived approximately 1.5 months less than the average of 826 days’ survival post-diagnosis among urban residents.

Study details: The data come from a retrospective cohort study including 555,333 Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia in 2010, approximately 76.5% lived in metropolitan counties, 13.5% in micropolitan counties, and 10% lived in rural areas.

Disclosures: The study was supported by the U.S. National Institute on Aging, which also provided grants to lead author Dr. Rahman and several coauthors.