DEMENTING DISORDERS IN NORTH ITALY - PREVALENCE STUDY IN VESCOVATO, CREMONA PROVINCE

We investigated the prevalence of dementia in 673 subjects over 59 yea rs of age in Vescovato, a small town of North Italy, using a two-phase survey. During phase I all subjects were administered the Hodkinson a bbreviated mental test and the subjects with a score less than or equa l to 7 underwent further examination to ascertain the diagnosis of dem entia. The prevalence ratio of dementia of all types was 9.8% (7.6-12. 0, 95% CI) above age 59. In our population Alzheimer's disease (AD) wa s the most frequent type of dementia (prevalence ratio = 5.2%), follow ed by vascular dementia (2.7%). Our study confirms that AD prevalence estimate rises exponentially with age.