Ds. Gordon et al., IDENTIFYING OLDER-PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA - THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A MULTISERVICE CENSUS, International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 12(6), 1997, pp. 636-641
A census of all relevant services in an area can; be used to identify
people with mental impairment suggestive of dementia. Two censuses in
Tayside, Scotland, were used to test the effectiveness of this method.
False positives accounted for 12% of returns, After excluding false p
ositives, by, comparison with expected dementia prevalence based on EU
RODEM, 66% of all sufferers and 50% of those living in the community w
ere identified by the censuses, By pro-rating for non-response, the pr
oportion of sufferers known to services was estimated as 72%. The char
acteristics of those nor known to services are unclear and further res
earch is needed on this, The cost of a census in an area of 250000 pop
ulation is under pound 3000. A multiservice census offers a simple, in
expensive, practicable method of constructing a sample Frame for popul
ation needs assessment. (C) 1997 by John Wiley a Sons, Ltd.