Prevalence of dementia and its major subtypes in elderly veterans

doi:10.3321/j.issn:1673-8225.2004.16.012

Abstract：BACKGROUND: Investigating the prevalence rate and major subtypes of dementia in elderly veterans in a certain region is very propitious in preventing dementia in old age and carrying out rehabilitation interventions.OBJECTIVE: To explore the prevalence rate and characteristics of dementia and its major subtypes in elderly veterans.DESIGN: A cross-sectional study based on diagnosis.SETTING, PARTICIPANTS and METHODS: A total of 2674 veterans(aged 65 years and over) from 29 military sanatoriums in Shijiazhuang City were studied. The Mini-Mental State Examination, Global Deterioration Scale, Activity of Daily Living, Hachinski Ischemic Scale and Hamilton Depression Scale of Chinese version served as screening tools.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence of dementia and major subtypes including Alzheimer' s disease(AD) and vascular dementia(VD)and their distribution in various ages and educational levels.RESULTS: The prevalence of total dementia in the individuals aged 65 years and over was 5.83%. The age-standardized prevalence of dementia was 6.06% in males and 5.00% in females without significant difference(x2 =0.97, P ＞ 0.05). The prevalence was 3.29% for AD and 1.83% for VD,respectively. The mean age of developing AD was 77.4 years and that of developing VD was 74. 1 years. The increase in AD prevalence doubled every 5 years with age while the increase in VD prevalence was slower and lower. Either for AD or for VD, there were no significant relationships between age-standardized prevalence rate and educational levels (tendencyX2 = 1.02,P＞ 0.05).CONCLUSION: The mean age of suffering from AD is higher than that of VD, and the prevalence of AD increases rapidly with age. Either for AD or for VD, there are no significant relationships between age-standardized prevalence rate and educational level.