EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DEMENTIA IN ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA

Objective: To present the results of several retrospective epidemiolog ic studies of dementia in Rochester, Minnesota, Material and Methods: These studies were done by using the medical records-linkage resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Results: The incidence and pre valence of dementia increase sharply with advancing age, No difference is noted in overall age-adjusted incidence rates by gender, Rochester studies provide the only 25-year time trend analyses of the incidence of dementia in the United States, Time trends over three prevalence d ates indicate an increase in prevalence in this community, Survival is decreased among patients with dementing illness, Case-control studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) show that general medical conditions, pre vious head injury, thyroid disease, exposure to therapeutic radiation, anesthesia, and blood transfusion are generally not risk factors for AD, Patients with depression may have an increased risk for the develo pment of AD, Sociodemographic factors such as education, occupation, m arital status, and type of dwelling were not significantly different a mong patients with AD and their age- and gender-matched control subjec ts, Conclusion: The Rochester Epidemiology Project has proved to be an excellent resource for the study of the incidence, prevalence, and ri sk factors for dementia.