Prevalence of vascular dementia in Chinese elderly in Hong Kong

The prevalence of dementia in elderly Chinese in Hong Kong was examined wit h a two-phase design. 1034 elderly were interviewed and cognitive impairmen t was screened with the Cantonese version of the Mini-Mental state Examinat ion (CMMSE)(1,2). Subjects scored lower than the cut off points were interv iewed at the second stage by psychiatrists to ascertain diagnosis. The over all weighted prevalence of dementia was 6.1%, vascular dementia accounted f or 29.3% of the identified cases. Compared with other studies of Western co untries and China, the prevalence rate of vascular dementia (VD) in Chinese was at the low side. Apart from the possible differences in methodology, e thnic differences in genetic and environmental factors may play important r oles.