Editor's Choice Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia Article Date: 23 May 2012 - 15:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'Rates Of Dementia In Underdeveloped Countries Are Double Than Previously Reported'

In addition, the team found that just like in developed countries, education offers substantial protection against dementia in less developed nations. The study is published Online First in The Lancet.

Lead study author Martin Prince from King's College London said:

Our findings suggest that early life influences, education and learning to read and write, may be particularly important for reducing the risk of dementia in late life. We need to understand more about cognitive reserve, how to measure it, and how it is stimulated across cultures.

The high incidence of dementia in less developed countries remind us that we are facing a global epidemic, and there needs to be more focus on prevention."

Using conventional western diagnostic approaches, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV criteria, earlier studies have suggested that the incidence of dementia might be significantly lower in low- and middle-income countries vs. high-income nations.

However, the new 10/66 Dementia Diagnosis approach uses methods developed and validated in 25 low and middle-income countries. The new approach has been demonstrated to provide accurate diagnoses even in individuals with little or no education.

In order to the compare the incidence of dementia, and to determine whether education and literacy, among other factors are protective against the development of dementia, the team applied both the standard DSM-IV criteria and the 10/66 approach to around 12,800 individuals aged 65+, across 9 urban and rural sites in Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and China.

The researchers found that the 10/66 dementia incidence is 1.5 - 2.5 times higher than the standard DSM-IV criteria calculated. In addition, 10/66 dementia incidence was consistently comparable to, or high than, dementia incidence reported by earlier studies.

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Rates Of Dementia In Underdeveloped Countries Are Double Than Previously Reported