Year: 2014
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Project Description: In the United States, 27% of individuals aged 65 years and older personally own a firearm, and over 37% live in a home where a firearm is present. Recent studies have suggested that individuals with access to firearms are more likely to commit suicide or become a victim of homicide. We sought to investigate the prevalence of gun ownership in patients suffering from dementia and related mental health issues. We identified patients who underwent initial evaluation for cognitive impairment at an outpatient memory clinic at the Cleveland Clinic between October, 2011 and October, 2013. After IRB approval, chart review was conducted and demographics, dementia-associated measures, and social variables were collected. The final analysis included 495 patients, of which 89 (18%) lived in a home with a gun. Of patients who had guns, 62 (70%) were diagnosed with dementia, 33 (37%) had delusions, and 15 (17%) had hallucinations. In addition, 57 (64%) had a diagnosis of depression or endorsed significant depression during their evaluation. Of those with delusions, 73% were described to be of paranoid quality, while 47% of patients with hallucinations had hallucinations described as paranoid. Patients living in homes with guns did not differ significantly from those living in homes without guns in terms of MOCA score (15.7 vs. 16.2, p = .49), PHQ-9 depression score (5.7 vs. 5.8, p = .82), prevalence of dementia (70.5% vs. 78.2%, p = .13), delusions (37.1% vs. 35.8%, p = .81), hallucinations (17.1% vs. 19.0%, p = .76), or depression (64.0% vs. 63.8%, p = 1.0). In our awareness, this is the largest analysis to date of the prevalence of gun ownership among patients with dementia. Our results suggest that caregivers and families of patients with dementia do not consistently remove guns from their homes, even in the presence of delusions and hallucinations. Our findings reinforce the importance for clinicians to ask caregivers specifically about the presence of firearms and to strongly advise appropriate action, regardless of the severity of dementia or behavioral symptoms, as most patients experience a progressive disease course.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1993464473