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A local census of dementia sufferers
D S Gordon1, B A Gillies, N G McWilliam
1Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee.
Scottish Medical Journal
|December 1, 1993
Summary
A census identified 859 dementia sufferers in Angus, achieving an 80% identification rate. This cost-effective method provides valuable data on dementia prevalence and service accessibility.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Accurate dementia prevalence data is crucial for healthcare planning.
- Previous studies relied on surveys, which can be costly and time-consuming.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the results of a dementia sufferer census in Angus.
- To estimate the true identification rate of dementia sufferers.
- To assess the distribution of dementia sufferers across different care settings.
Main Methods:
- A census approach was used to identify dementia sufferers known to institutional and community services in Angus.
- Prevalence rates from EURODEM were used for comparison.
- Cross-boundary flow to institutions was accounted for to estimate true identification.
Main Results:
- A total of 859 dementia sufferers were identified.
- The estimated true identification rate was 80% (809/1013).
- Of the estimated 1063 total sufferers, 26% were in hospital, 27% in residential/nursing homes, 27% in the community known to services, and 19% in the community unknown to services.
Conclusions:
- A census approach can effectively identify dementia sufferers.
- This method provides valuable epidemiological data at a lower cost than full surveys.
- Cooperation among services is key to successful census implementation.