BACKGROUND: Dementia is emerging as an important health problem of elderly people in India. AIMS: To investigate the prevalence, psychosocial correlates and risk factors of various dementing disorders in an urban population in Kerala, southern India. METHOD: A door-to-door survey was conducted in the city of Kochi (Cochin) to identify residents aged > or =65 years using cluster sampling. Of 1934 people screened with a vernacular adaptation of the Mini-Mental State Examination, all those scoring at or below the cut-off of 23 were evaluated further and those with confirmed cognitive and functional impairment were assigned diagnoses according to DSM-IV criteria. Identified cases were categorised by ICD-10 criteria. Ten per cent of those screened as negative were evaluated at each stage. RESULTS: Prevalence of dementia was 33.6 per 1000 (95% CI 27.3-40.7). Alzheimer's disease was the most common type (54%) followed by vascular dementia (39%), and 7% of cases were due to causes such as infection, tumour and trauma. Family history of dementia was a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and history of hypertension was a risk factor for vascular dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Dementia is an important health problem of the elderly population. Identification of risk factors points towards the possibility of prevention.
BACKGROUND:Dementia is emerging as an important health problem of elderly people in India. AIMS: To investigate the prevalence, psychosocial correlates and risk factors of various dementing disorders in an urban population in Kerala, southern India. METHOD: A door-to-door survey was conducted in the city of Kochi (Cochin) to identify residents aged > or =65 years using cluster sampling. Of 1934 people screened with a vernacular adaptation of the Mini-Mental State Examination, all those scoring at or below the cut-off of 23 were evaluated further and those with confirmed cognitive and functional impairment were assigned diagnoses according to DSM-IV criteria. Identified cases were categorised by ICD-10 criteria. Ten per cent of those screened as negative were evaluated at each stage. RESULTS: Prevalence of dementia was 33.6 per 1000 (95% CI 27.3-40.7). Alzheimer's disease was the most common type (54%) followed by vascular dementia (39%), and 7% of cases were due to causes such as infection, tumour and trauma. Family history of dementia was a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and history of hypertension was a risk factor for vascular dementia. CONCLUSIONS:Dementia is an important health problem of the elderly population. Identification of risk factors points towards the possibility of prevention.
Authors: Dushyant P Purohit; Nirmala O Batheja; Mary Sano; Kusum D Jashnani; Rajesh N Kalaria; Arivarasan Karunamurthy; Shalinder Kaur; Asha S Shenoy; Kathleen Van Dyk; James Schmeidler; Daniel P Perl Journal: J Alzheimers Dis Date: 2011 Impact factor: 4.472
Authors: P S Mathuranath; P Joseph Cherian; Robert Mathew; Suresh Kumar; Annamma George; Aley Alexander; Neelima Ranjith; P S Sarma Journal: Int J Geriatr Psychiatry Date: 2010-03 Impact factor: 3.485
Authors: P S Mathuranath; Annamma George; Neelima Ranjith; Sunita Justus; M Suresh Kumar; Ramsekhar Menon; P Shankara Sarma; Joe Verghese Journal: Neurol India Date: 2012 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 2.117
Authors: Raj N Kalaria; Gladys E Maestre; Raul Arizaga; Robert P Friedland; Doug Galasko; Kathleen Hall; José A Luchsinger; Adesola Ogunniyi; Elaine K Perry; Felix Potocnik; Martin Prince; Robert Stewart; Anders Wimo; Zhen-Xin Zhang; Piero Antuono Journal: Lancet Neurol Date: 2008-07-28 Impact factor: 44.182