Over 90% of dementia cases in China are undetected

A survey of 7,072 older adults in six provinces across China, with one rural and one urban community in each province, has identified 359 older adults with dementia and 328 with depression. There were only 26 participants who had doctor-diagnosed dementia reported and 26 who had doctor-diagnosed depression. Overall, 93% of dementia cases and 93% of depression were not detected.

Undetected dementia was strongly associated with low socioeconomic status such as a low educational and occupational class, and living in a rural area.

In comparison, research in high income countries has found that about 60% of older adults with dementia are not diagnosed, and generally there has not been a strong association between low socioeconomic status and undetected dementia. One factor in China’s high rate may be that most older Chinese live with their families, who may be inclined to see dementia as a normal part of aging.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/kcl-o9072413.php

 

New estimates of dementia in China

A new review of 89 studies, involving more than 340,000 participants in total, has estimated that 9.19 million people in China had dementia in 2010, of whom 5.69 million had Alzheimer’s disease. Previous studies appear to have considerably underestimated the true burden of dementia in China, largely due to limited data availability. However, this study examined a much wider range of data sources than earlier studies, including many Chinese-language reports.

Of the 340 247 participants, 6357 had Alzheimer's disease (1.87%). Of 254,367 assessed for other forms of dementia, 3543 (1.4%) had vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, or Lewy body dementia.

Total dementia prevalence in 1990 was 1·8% at 65-69 years, and 42·1% at age 95-99 years; in 2010, prevalence had increased to 2·6% and 60·5%, respectively.

Prevalence was higher for women than men, but didn't differ significantly between urban and rural residents.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/l-mco060513.php

[3561] Chen, R., Hu Z., Chen R-L., Ma Y., Zhang D., & Wilson K.
(2013).  Determinants for undetected dementia and late-life depression.
The British Journal of Psychiatry. 203(3), 203 - 208.

[3559] Chan, K Y., Wang W., Wu J J., Liu L., Theodoratou E., Car J., et al.
(2013).  Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia in China, 1990–2010: a systematic review and analysis.
The Lancet. 381(9882), 2016 - 2023.

Related News

A study in which 64 sedentary older adults (aged 60-88) participated in a 12-week exercise program found that those who engaged in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) saw an improvement of up to 30% in memory performance while participants who engaged in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise s

A study involving 30 previously physically inactive older adults (aged 61-88) found that a three-month exercise program reversed some brain atrophy.

A long-running study following 387 Australian women found that regular exercise in middle age was the best lifestyle change they could make to prevent cognitive decline in their later years.

A large study, involving nearly 14,000 older adults (50+) participating in the 2006 Health and Retirement Study, found that weaker handgrip strength was associated with a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment, especially severe impairment, over the eight-year study period.

Data from the long-running Rush Memory and Aging Project, involving 960 participants who completed a food frequency questionnaire from 2004 to 2013, found that those who ate one daily serving of green, leafy vegetables had a slower rate of cognitive decline than people who rarely or never ate th

A study involving 99 healthy older adults found that levels of monounsaturated fatty acids were associated with cognitive performance and the organization of the brain's attention network.

Data from 915 older adults (mean age 81.4) participating in the very long-running Rush Memory and Aging Project, has found that those who reported eating seafood less than once a week showed greater cognitive decline compared to those who ate at least one seafood meal per week.

Data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, involving 8,574 middle-aged and older adults (aged 45-85), has found that those who ate more vegetables and fruits and more nuts and pulses (such as lentils and beans) scored higher on tests of verbal fluency.

Analysis of data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and AREDS2, involving a total of around 8,000 older adults, has found that those with the greatest adherence to the Mediterranean diet had the lowest risk of cognitive impairment.

A 10-year study involving 19,887 middle-aged and older Americans, who completed surveys every two years about their health and lifestyle, has found that those who had a drink or two a day tended to show less cognitive decline, compared to non-drinkers.

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.