PREVALENCE OF CHRONIC DISEASES IN OLDER ITALIANS - COMPARING SELF-REPORTED AND CLINICAL DIAGNOSES

Background. The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA) evaluates t he rates of diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological disorders in a r andom sample of 5632 Italians aged 65-84 years. Methods. The ILSA has two components: a first screening phase administered to all participan ts, that includes a personal interview, physician examination, laborat ory and diagnostic tests, and a second phase, consisting of the clinic al confirmation of suspected cases by a specialist. Results. Prevalenc e rates were significantly higher among men for myocardial infarction (10.7% versus 4.8%), cardiac arrhythmia (25.1% versus 20.3%) and perip heral artery disease (8.1% versus 5.2%), and among women for hypertens ion (67.3% versus 59.4%), heart failure (7.3% versus 5.4%) and dementi a (7.2% versus 5.3%). No gender difference was found for stroke, angin a, diabetes, Parkinsonism and distal symmetric neuropathy, Unreported diagnoses accounted for 85% of cases of distal symmetric neuropathy, f or more than half the cases of cardiac failure, for 40% of cases of an gina, and for more than one-third of cases of arrhythmia, myocardial i nfarction, peripheral artery disease, hypertension, Parkinsonism. Data from the phase 1 interview showed substantial overreporting for myoca rdial infarction, peripheral artery disease, diabetes, and stroke. Con clusions. The authors conclude that self-reported information would le ad to inaccurate estimates of prevalence rates suggesting the need for including the clinical ascertainment in any population-based epidemio logical study.