Rt. Lin et al., PREVALENCE AND SUBTYPES OF DEMENTIA IN SOUTHERN TAIWAN - IMPACT OF AGE, SEX, EDUCATION, AND URBANIZATION, Journal of the neurological sciences, 160(1), 1998, pp. 67-75
To determine the prevalence and subtypes of dementia in southern Taiwa
n,a two-phase study consisting of a phase I screening survey using the
Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) and a phase II diagnostic exami
nation using the CERAD neuropsychological battery and the neurobehavio
ral examination was conducted. According to the household records, str
atified random sampling by the degree of urbanization of the community
was used, and 2915 inhabitants aged 65 and over participated in this
study. The ICD-10NA criteria for dementia, NINCDS-ADRDA guidelines for
Alzheimer's disease (AD), and NINDS-AIREN criteria for vascular demen
tia (VaD) were employed. Three hundred and ninety-eight persons who ha
d MMSE scores below the cutoff values were recruited into the phase II
study, of whom 108 had dementia. The prevalence rate (PR) of dementia
was 3.7%, increasing from 1.3% in people 65-69 years old to 16.5% in
people 85 years old and older. The age-standardized PR (ASPR) was 4.0%
. AD (58 cases, 53.7%, PR=2.0%, ASPR=2.3%) was the most common cause o
f dementia, followed by VaD (25 cases, 23.1%, PR=0.9%, ASPR=0.9%), and
mixed dementia (eight cases, 7.4%). After adjusting for age, sex and
education using logistic regression analysis, aging was a significant
risk factor for AD, VaD and total dementia. Female sex and illiteracy
were significant risk factors for AD only. We concluded that the preva
lence of dementia in Taiwan is lower than in the developed countries,
which could be due to a relatively young elderly population and a high
mortality from dementia in Taiwan. AD is the leading cause of dementi
a in Taiwan. Considering the high stroke prevalence, the relatively lo
wer prevalence of VaD in Taiwan deserves further investigation. (C) 19
98 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.