In this cohort study of 81,364 Medicare beneficiaries residing in single-person households, researchers described the financial presentation of Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) utilizing administrative credit data. Compared with demographically comparable beneficiaries without ADRD, single Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with ADRD were more likely to miss payments on credit accounts as early as 6 years before diagnosis and to develop subprime credit scores 2.5 years before diagnosis. Compared with other medical conditions (eg, glaucoma, hip fracture), the patterns of adverse events associated with ADRD were distinctive. Years prior to clinical diagnosis, ADRD were associated with adverse financial events that were more prevalent after diagnosis and were most frequent in lower-education census tracts. Source
