[Care of patients with dementia--a ticking cost bomb?]

Owing to the increasing number of elderly people, the prevalence of dementia will also increase. In 1990, there were about 101,000 people with moderate to severe dementia in Sweden, or 6.4 percent of the population over 65 years of age (65+ pop.). The figure will increase to about 121,000 by the year 2000 (7.7 percent of the 65+ pop.), and to 156,000 by 2025 (7.5 percent of the 65+ pop.). The corresponding health care costs, which were SEK 30 billion in 1991, are estimated to reach SEK 35 billion by 2000, and SEK 46 billion by 2025. Assuming comparable increases in the prevalence of dementia in the other Nordic countries, the overall number of dementia patients will increase from 247,000 in 1991 to 371,000 by 2025, and the respective costs from SEK 74 billion to SEK 110 billion.