Prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in elders of nursing homes and a senior center of Durango City, Mexico.
BACKGROUND
Epidemiological reports about dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in elderly people from developing countries are scarce. Therefore, we sought to determine the prevalences of dementia and AD in a population of nursing home residents and senior center attendees of Durango City, Mexico, and to determine whether any socio-demographic characteristics from the subjects associated with dementia or AD exist.


METHODS
One hundred and fifty-five residents of two nursing homes and 125 attendees of a senior center were examined for dementia and Alzheimer's disease. All subjects were tested by the mini-mental state examination, and those who scored twenty-four or less underwent psychiatric and neurological evaluations. Diagnosis of dementia, AD and vascular dementia (VaD) was based on the DSM-IV criteria. Socio-demographic characteristics from each participant were also obtained.


RESULTS
Residents of nursing homes found to suffer from dementia were 25 out of 155 (16.1%). Eighteen of them (11.6%) had AD, and seven (4.5%) had VaD. None of the attendees of the senior center suffered from dementia. Dementia (pooled AD and VaD cases) correlated with white ethnicity (OR = 3.2; 95%CI = 1.28-8.31), and a history of unemployment (OR = 6.46; 95%CI = 1.42-25.97), while AD correlated with journeymen occupations (OR = 4.55; 95%CI = 1.00-19.29).


CONCLUSIONS
Prevalence of dementia in residents of nursing homes found in this study is much lower than reported from more industrialized countries. AD was more frequent than VaD. Ethnicity and occupation showed effects on the prevalence figures. The prevalence of dementia found has implications for the optimum kind of health care that nursing homes should provide to their residents.
Alvarado-Esquivel
Cosme
C
Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Durango City, Mexico. alvaradocosme@yahoo.com
Hernández-Alvarado
Ana Berthina
AB
Tapia-Rodríguez
Rosa Oralia
RO
Guerrero-Iturbe
Angel
A
Rodríguez-Corral
Karina
K
Martínez
Sergio Estrada
SE
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009790:Occupations; D015995:Prevalence; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D014478:Unemployment