Identification of dementia cases in the community: a Brazilian experience.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the application in Brazil of a simple, low-cost procedure, developed in India by the 10/66 Dementia Research Group, for the identification of dementia cases in the community.


METHODS
Community-based dementia case-finding method.


METHODS
Piraju, São Paulo, Brazil.


METHODS
Twenty-five community health workers were trained to identify dementia cases in 2,222 people aged 65 and older in Piraju, a Brazilian town with 27,871 inhabitants.


METHODS
After the training, the health workers prepared a list of possible cases that afterward an experienced psychiatrist clinically evaluated, according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), criteria and the Clinical Dementia Rating.


RESULTS
Of the 72 cases that were clinically assessed, 45 met the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for dementia. Therefore, the positive predictive value of this case finding method was 62.5%; the estimated frequency of dementia was 2%. Most of the confirmed cases met clinical criteria for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.


CONCLUSIONS
This simple method was appropriate to identify cases of dementia in the general population and can possibly be extended to other developing countries with limited resources to be applied in health programs.
Ramos-Cerqueira
Ana Teresa A
AT
Dementia Research Group, State University of São Paulo, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. ateresa@fmb.unesp.br
Torres
Albina R
AR
Crepaldi
André L
AL
Oliveira
Nair I L
NI
Scazufca
Márcia
M
Menezes
Paulo R
PR
Prince
Martin
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics*