CEREBRAL AND FUNCTIONAL AGING - 1ST RESULTS ON PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF THE PAQUID COHORT

Paquid is an interdisciplinary study designed to investigate cerebral and functional aging. A cohort of 3,777 community residents living in two administrative areas of South-Western France was selected. A stand ardized questionnaire was administered at home by trained psychologist s. The same procedure was applied one and three years after the baseli ne data collection. The identification of demented subjects was made w ith a two-step procedure. The first step is a systematic screening by the psychologists using the DSM-III criteria for dementia. Subjects wh o fulfilled the DSM-III criteria were examined by a neurologist. Diagn osis of dementia is confirmed according to the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. The Paquid cohort is complemented by a random sample of 357 institutio nalized subjects. First results of prevalence and incidence rates show an exponential increase of dementia with age.