P3‐610: USE OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES AMONG OLDER ADULTS PARTICIPATING IN A MULTIDOMAIN LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION TO PREVENT COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (FINGER)

Older age increases the prevalence of diseases that affect physical and cognitive functioning, and thus older adults are among the main users of health care services. Healthy lifestyle may be able to maintain good health and subsequently decrease the need for health care services. The 2-year Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) multidomain lifestyle intervention has demonstrated beneficial effects on cognition. This study investigates the effect of FINGER intervention on the use of health care services. The study involved 1084 older adults who participated in the FINGER randomized controlled trial. The 2-year intervention consisted of dietary counselling, physical exercise, cognitive training and monitoring of vascular risks. Doctor visits within the previous 12 months were assessed using self-reported questionnaires at baseline and after 2-year intervention. A logistic regression analysis was used to predict the probability of doctor visits in the intervention group compared to the controls. The preliminary results showed that 417 (77%) in the intervention group and 423 (78%) in the control group reported that they had visited doctor within 12 months before baseline (p=0.833). Logistic regression analyses, adjusted for sex, baseline age and health care visits within 12 months prior baseline, showed that after 2-year intervention persons in the intervention group were 30% less likely to report doctor visits within previous 12 months (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.94) compared to the control group. The preliminary analyses showed that a two-year multidomain lifestyle intervention may reduce the need of health care services.