Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T09:12:16.681Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rate of dementia diagnoses according to the degree of aging of the population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2014

Laia Calvó-Perxas ,
María Aguirregomozcorta ,
Isabel Casas ,
Margarita Flaqué ,
Marta Hernàndez ,
Marta Linares ,
Yolanda Silva ,
Marta Viñas ,
Secundino López-Pousa  and
Josep Garre-Olmo
Laia Calvó-Perxas
Affiliation:
IAS Research Unit [Girona Biomedical Research Institute] IDIBGI. Girona, Catalonia, Spain
María Aguirregomozcorta
Affiliation:
Neurology Unit, Hospital de Figueres, Figueres, Catalonia, Spain
Isabel Casas
Affiliation:
Hospital de Campdevànol, Campdevànol, Catalonia, Spain
Margarita Flaqué
Affiliation:
Dementia Unit, Hospital de Palamós, Palamós, Catalonia, Spain
Marta Hernàndez
Affiliation:
Dementia Unit, Hospital de Santa Caterina, Salt, Catalonia, Spain
Marta Linares
Affiliation:
Neurology Department, Hospital d’Olot, Olot, Catalonia, Spain
Yolanda Silva
Affiliation:
Neurodegenerative Disease Unit, Hospital Universitari Dr. Josep Trueta, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Marta Viñas
Affiliation:
Geriatrics and Neurology Department, Hospital de Blanes, Catalonia, Spain
Secundino López-Pousa
Affiliation:
IAS Research Unit [Girona Biomedical Research Institute] IDIBGI. Girona, Catalonia, Spain Dementia Unit, Hospital de Santa Caterina, Salt, Catalonia, Spain Department of Medical Sciences, University of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Josep Garre-Olmo*
Affiliation:
IAS Research Unit [Girona Biomedical Research Institute] IDIBGI. Girona, Catalonia, Spain Department of Medical Sciences, University of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Josep Garre-Olmo, IAS Research Unit [Girona Biomedical Research Institute] IDIBGI. C/ Dr Castany s/n; 17190 Salt, CataloniaSpain. Phone: +34 972 182600 (ext. 1833). Email: josep.garre@ias.scs.es.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

There is a lack of information regarding geographical differences in the incidence and prevalence of dementia diagnosis according to the degree of aging of the population. The objectives of this study were to analyze the rate of dementia diagnoses, and to compare the dementia subtypes and the clinical characteristics of the patients depending on the degree of aging of their municipalities.

Methods:

We used data from the Registry of Dementias of Girona (ReDeGi), containing the cases of dementia diagnosed in the memory clinics of the Health Region of Girona, in Catalonia (Spain), during 2007–2012. The municipalities were classified by a cluster analysis as aged or young municipalities according to their proportion of older people using population ageing indicators. The incidence rates of dementia diagnosis in each type of municipality were compared.

Results:

The ReDeGi registered 4,314 cases in the municipalities under surveillance. The clinical incidence of dementia was lower in aged municipalities (4.5 vs. 6.1 cases per 1,000 person-years aged 65 and over). Patients from young municipalities had an increased frequency of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Conclusions:

The environment may influence the clinical manifestations of dementia that predispose people to visit health specialists and obtain a diagnosis.

Keywords

agingepidemiologyregistriespopulation characteristicshealthcare disparities
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , March 2015 , pp. 419 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agüero-Torres, H., Fratiglioni, L. and Guo, Z. (1999). Mortality from dementia in advanced age: a 5-year follow-up study of incident dementia cases. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 52, 737–743.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Bail, K. et al. (2013). Characteristics of rural hospital services for people with dementia: findings from the hospital dementia services project. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 21, 208–215.Google Scholar
Blazer, D. G., Landerman, L. R., Fillenbaum, G. and Horner, R. (1995). Health services access and use among older adults in North Carolina: urban (vs.) rural residents. American Journal of Public Health, 85, 1384–1390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blessed, G., Tomilson, B. E. and Roth, M. (1968). The association between quantitative measures of dementia, and of senile change in the cerebral grey matter of elderly subjects. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, 114, 797–811.Google Scholar
Breslow, N. and Day, N. E. (1994). Statistical Methods in Cancer Research (vol II): The Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies. London, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cerejeira, J., Lagarto, L. and Mukaetova-Ladinska, E. B. (2012). Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Frontiers of Neurology, 3, 73.Google Scholar
De Lepeleire, J. et al. (2008). The primary care diagnosis of dementia in Europe: an analysis using multidisciplinary,multinational expert groups. Aging and Mental Health, 12, 568–576.Google Scholar
Ferri, C. P. et al. (2005). Global prevalence of dementia: a Delphi consensus study. Lancet, 366, 2112–2117.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R. (1975). Mini Mental State: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.Google Scholar
Forbes, D. A., Morgan, D. and Janzen, B. L. (2006). Rural and urban Canadians with dementia: use of health care services. Canadian Journal on Aging, 25, 321–330.Google Scholar
Fratiglioni, L., von Strauss, E. and Qiu, C. (2008). Epidemiology of the dementias of old age. In Jacoby, R., Dening, T., Thomas, A. and Oppenheimer, C. (eds.), The Oxford Textbook of Old Age Psychiatry. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Garre-Olmo, J. et al. (2009). A clinical registry of dementia based on the principle of epidemiological surveillance. BMC Neurology, 9, 5.Google Scholar
Garre-Olmo, J. et al. (2010). Incidence and subtypes of early-onset dementia in a geographically defined general population. Neurology, 75, 1249–1255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenway-Crombie, A., Snow, P., Disler, P., Davis, S. and Pond, D. (2012). Influence of rurality on diagnosing dementia in Australian general practice. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 18, 178–184.Google Scholar
Iliffe, S., Wilcock, J. and Haworth, D. (2006). Obstacles to shared care for patients with dementia: a qualitative study. Family Practice, 23, 353–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Innes, A., Morgan, D. and Kosteniuk, J. (2011). Dementia care in rural and remote settings: a systematic review of informal/family caregiving. Maturitas, 68, 34–46.Google Scholar
Kaufman, L. and Rousseeuw, P. J. (1990). Finding Groups in Data: An Introduction to Cluster Analysis. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Koller, D. et al. (2010). Ambulatory health services utilization in patients with dementia – Is there an urban-rural difference? International Journal of Health Geographics, 9, 59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawton, M. P. (1974). Social ecology and the health of older people. American Journal of Public Health, 3, 257–260.Google Scholar
Llinàs-Reglà, J., López-Pousa, S., Vilalta-Franch, J., Garre-Olmo, J. and Román, G. C. (2008). Mortality after a diagnosis of dementia in a population aged 75 and over in Spain. Neuroepidemiology, 31, 80–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, J. T. and Conde, H. (2010). Does geography matter? The health service use and unmet health care needs of older Canadians. Canadian Journal on Aging, 29, 23–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan, D. G. et al. (2009). Improving access to dementia care: development and evaluation of a rural and remote memory clinic. Aging and Mental Health, 13, 17–30.Google Scholar
Morris, J. C. (1993). The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): current version and scoring rules. Neurology, 43, 2412–2414.Google Scholar
Qiu, C., Ronchi, D. D. and Fratiglioni, L. (2007). The epidemiology of the dementias: an update. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20, 380–385.Google Scholar
Russ, T. C., Batty, G. D., Hearnshaw, G. F., Fenton, C. and Starr, J. M. (2012). Geographical variation in dementia: systematic review with meta-analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 41, 1012–1032.Google Scholar
Schwartz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics, 6, 461–464.Google Scholar
Sibley, L. M. and Weiner, J. P. (2011). An evaluation of access to health care services along the rural-urban continuum in Canada. BMC Health Services Research, 11, 20.Google Scholar
Turner, S. et al. (2004). General practitioners’ knowledge, confidence and attitudes in the diagnosis and management of dementia. Age and Ageing, 33, 461–467.Google Scholar
Vernooij-Dassen, M. J. et al. (2005). Factors affecting timely recognition and diagnosis of dementia across Europe: from awareness to stigma. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 377–386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed