Prevalence of frontotemporal dementia in community-based studies in Latin America: a systematic review

Latin America (LA) is experiencing a rise in the elderly population and a consequent increase in geriatric problems such as dementia. There are few epidemiological studies assessing the magnitude of dementia and dementia subtypes in LA.

To identify published community-based studies on the prevalence of FTD in LA countries.

A database search for door-to-door studies on FTD prevalence in LA was performed. The search was carried out on Medline, Embase, and LILACS databases for research conducted between 1994 and 2012. The main inclusion criteria were: use of any internationally accepted diagnostic criteria and investigation of community samples.

Four hundred and ninety two articles were found, of which 26 were initially pre-selected by title or abstract review. Five studies from 3 different countries were included. The FTD prevalence rates in community-dwelling elderly were 1.2 (Venezuela), 1.3 (Peru) and 1.7-1.8 (Brazil) per thousand persons, depending on age group.

The FTD prevalence in LA studies showed values mid-way between those observed in western and in oriental populations. Despite the magnitude of this problem, epidemiological information on FTD remains scarce in LA.