Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T21:39:59.647Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Incidence of Dementia in a Representative British Sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kevin Morgan*
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care for the Elderly University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH
Jeanette M. Lilley
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care for the Elderly University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH
Tom Arie
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care for the Elderly University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH
E. Jane Byrne
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care for the Elderly University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH
Rob Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care for the Elderly University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH
Jonathan Waite
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care for the Elderly University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH
*
Correspondence

Abstract

In a four-year follow-up study of 1042 elderly people (aged 65 years or older), randomly sampled from the community, levels of dementia were assessed using a two-phase case-finding procedure (screening followed by clinical interview) among survivors. Clinical information on those not reinterviewed was provided by death certificates, hospital case notes, or postal questionnaires. The weighted four-year cumulative incidence of dementia was 3.7% (95% confidence intervals: 2.4%-5.0%), with age-specific rates of 0.9%, 2.8%, 5.2%, 9.0%, and 8.7% for the age groups 65–69, 70–74, 75–79, 80–84, and 85–89 years respectively. While consistent with data from other British regions, it remains likely that these rates underestimate true incidence.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM-III-R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Black, S. E., Blessed, G., Edwardson, J. A., et al (1990) Prevalence rates of dementia in an ageing population: are low rates due to the use of insensitive instruments? Age and Ageing, 19, 8490.Google Scholar
Brayne, C. & Calloway, P. (1989) An epidemiological study of dementia in a rural population of elderly women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 214219.Google Scholar
Burns, A., Jacoby, R., Luthert, P., et al (1990) Cause of death in Alzheimer's disease. Age and Ageing, 19, 341344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E., Wood, N., et al (1987) Range of mental illness among the elderly in the community: prevalence in Liverpool using the GMS AGECAT package. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 815823.Google Scholar
Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E., Wood, N., Davidson, I. A., Dewey, M. E., et al (1992) Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, depression and pseudo-dementia: prevalence, incidence and three-year outcome in Liverpool. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 230239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jagger, C., Clarke, M. & Cook, A. J. (1989) Mental and physical health of elderly people: five-year follow-up of a total population. Age and Ageing, 18, 7782.Google Scholar
Livingston, G., Hawkins, A., Graham, N., et al (1990) The Gospel Oak study: prevalence rates of dementia, depression and activity limitation among elderly residents in Inner London. Psychological Medicine, 20, 137246.Google Scholar
Morgan, K., Dallosso, H. M., Arie, T., et al (1987) Mental health and psychological well-being among the old and the very old living at home. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 801807.Google Scholar
Nottingham Health Authority (1991) Aiming for Health in the 1990s: Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 1991. Nottingham: Nottingham Health Authority.Google Scholar
O'Connor, D. W., Pollitt, P. A., Hyde, J. B., et al (1989) The prevalence of dementia as measured by the Cambridge Mental Disorders of the Elderly Examination. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 79, 190198.Google Scholar
Office Of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) (1983) Census 1981: Sex, Age and Marital Status, Great Britain. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Pattie, A. H. & Gilleard, C. J. (1979) Manual for the Clifton Assessment Procedures for the Elderly (CAPE). Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton Educational.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.