Farshad Sharifi1, Baharak Najafi2, Hossein Fakhrzadeh2, Maryam Noroozian3, Shohreh Naderimagham4, Ian Philp5, Seyed Masood Arzaghi2, Mahtab Alizadeh2, Shervan Shoaee2, Tahereh Hassannia6, Ali Sheidaei7, Maziar Moradi-Lakeh8, Farshad Farzadfar9, Bagher Larijani6. 1. 1)Elderly Health Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2) Non-Communicable Disease Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.emrc@tums.ac.ir. 2. Elderly Health Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 3. Geriatric Education Group, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 4. Non-Communicable Disease Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5. Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK. 6. Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran Iran. 7. 6)Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Paramedical sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2)Non-Communicable Disease Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 8. Community Medicine Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 9. 2)Non-Communicable Disease Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5)Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dementia is a disabling syndrome, which generally affects aged population more than any other age groups. This syndrome has a growing prevalence and incidence worldwide. The prevalence and burden of this group of diseases in Iran have not been estimated in a community-based study yet. This paper aims to explain the systematic approach, data sources, research methodology, and statistical analysis that will be used to quantify the prevalence and burden of dementia at national and sub-national levels. METHODS: This is the protocol of a secondary data study that explains the design and method of conducting the study. We will use several sources of data that will include a systematic review of articles and gray literature which have reported the prevalence or incidence of dementia and its uncertainty at national and sub-national levels in Iran, in addition to data about dementia-specific drug sales per each year at provincial levels, as well as data extracted from 23 million health insurance prescriptions over 8 years and some data from medical documents of Iranian Alzheimer's Association members. The technical groups of National and Sub-national Burden of Disease will collect some covariate data, such as age and sex structure of population, urbanization status, mean years of schooling, plasma cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure at provincial levels which will be used in our models. Two statistical models, namely spatio-temporal and hierarchical autoregressive models, will be used for interpolation and extrapolation of missing data. CONCLUSION: It seems that the study of national and sub-national burden of dementia could provide more accurate estimation of prevalence and burden of dementia in Iran with an acceptable level of uncertainty than the previous studies.
BACKGROUND:Dementia is a disabling syndrome, which generally affects aged population more than any other age groups. This syndrome has a growing prevalence and incidence worldwide. The prevalence and burden of this group of diseases in Iran have not been estimated in a community-based study yet. This paper aims to explain the systematic approach, data sources, research methodology, and statistical analysis that will be used to quantify the prevalence and burden of dementia at national and sub-national levels. METHODS: This is the protocol of a secondary data study that explains the design and method of conducting the study. We will use several sources of data that will include a systematic review of articles and gray literature which have reported the prevalence or incidence of dementia and its uncertainty at national and sub-national levels in Iran, in addition to data about dementia-specific drug sales per each year at provincial levels, as well as data extracted from 23 million health insurance prescriptions over 8 years and some data from medical documents of Iranian Alzheimer's Association members. The technical groups of National and Sub-national Burden of Disease will collect some covariate data, such as age and sex structure of population, urbanization status, mean years of schooling, plasma cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure at provincial levels which will be used in our models. Two statistical models, namely spatio-temporal and hierarchical autoregressive models, will be used for interpolation and extrapolation of missing data. CONCLUSION: It seems that the study of national and sub-national burden of dementia could provide more accurate estimation of prevalence and burden of dementia in Iran with an acceptable level of uncertainty than the previous studies.