Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40906317›Full record

SynthesisJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2026

A Meta-Analysis of Sex-Based Differences in Health Service Use for Persons Living With Dementia Between 2018 and 2020 in Four Canadian Provinces.

María Alejandra Rodríguez-Duarte, Isabelle Marie Vedel, Deniz Cetin-Sahin, Ilhem Bousbiat, Claire Godard-Sebillotte, Nadia Sourial, Laura C Maclagan, Christina Diong, Susan E Bronskill, Dallas Seitz and 6 more

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

María Alejandra Rodríguez-DuarteDepartment of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-1178-9014
Isabelle Marie VedelDepartment of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Deniz Cetin-SahinLady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-7201-7579
Ilhem BousbiatLady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada.
Claire Godard-SebillotteMcGill University Health Centre, Research Institute, Montreal, Canada.
Nadia SourialDepartment of Health Management, Evaluation and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
Laura C MaclaganIces, Toronto, Canada.
Christina DiongIces, Toronto, Canada.
Susan E BronskillIces, Toronto, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-7341-0655
Dallas SeitzDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Debra MorganCanadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health, Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Louis RochetteInstitut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Quebec City, Canada.
Victoria MassambaInstitut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Quebec City, Canada.
Jacqueline QuailHealth Quality Council, Saskatoon, Canada.
Geneviève Arsenault-LapierreDepartment of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-0984-6857
COVID‐ROSA group

Funding

CIHR 02005VR5-448197-CSH-CFAA-19228Consortium canadien en neurodégénérescence associée au vieillissement
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEnsuring equitable healthcare services for persons with dementia is of utmost importance. Recent evidence points to sex-based differences in healthcare use in this population. However, available evidence is based on data from limited geographic regions and predates the COVID-19 pandemic, which is said to have further magnified disparities. This study aims to estimate sex-based differences in ambulatory and acute care service use in persons with dementia in four Canadian provinces between 2018 and 2020.

methodsA retrospective multicohort design was conducted using linked health administrative data from Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Three cohorts (2018, 2019, and 2020) of community-dwelling persons aged 65 and older with dementia were identified. Within each cohort, rates of sex-stratified outcomes were calculated (per 10,000 person-years). The outcomes were visits to family physicians, cognitive specialists, other specialists, all-cause emergency departments, and all-cause hospitalizations. Estimates of the incidence rate difference (IRD) between males and females within each cohort year for each outcome were pooled using random-effect meta-analysis.

resultsThe 2018, 2019, and 2020 cohorts included 97,811, 100,316, and 103,638 females, respectively. Similarly, 64,628, 67,013, and 69,839 males were included in the same respective cohorts. We found sex differences in ambulatory and acute care use in all three cohorts. Compared to females, males with dementia had higher rates of other specialists' visits, emergency department visits, and all-cause hospitalizations, with significant IRDs during the three cohort years.

conclusionConsistent sex differences in healthcare use by persons with dementia were observed before and during the pandemic in four Canadian provinces, especially in acute care. This emphasizes the need to address sex-based differences in dementia care, ultimately working toward ensuring equitable and tailored healthcare services to enhance the quality of care and experiences for all persons with dementia.

Indexed as

COVID-19DementiaPatient Acceptance of Health CareAgedAged, 80 and overAmbulatory CareCanadaFemaleHospitalizationHumansIndependent LivingMaleRetrospective StudiesSex Factorsacute careambulatory caredementiahealthcare disparititessex‐based differences

Identifiers

PMID40906317
PMCPMC12774298

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.