Prevalence of dementia and its subtypes in an elderly urban korean population: results from the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health And Aging (KLoSHA).
OBJECTIVE
We estimated the prevalence of dementia and its major subtypes in an elderly urban Korean population.


METHODS
A study population of 1,118 Korean elders was randomly sampled from the residents aged 65 years or older living in Seongnam, Korea. Standardized face-to-face interviews, and neurological and physical examinations were conducted on 714 respondents. Dementia was diagnosed according to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, and its subtypes were determined according to the criteria of the NINCDS-ADRDA, the NINDS-AIREN, and the consensus guideline proposed by McKeith et al. [Neurology 1996;47:1113-1124].


RESULTS
The estimated age- and gender-standardized prevalences were 6.3% for dementia (95% CI = 4.5-8.1), 4.8% for Alzheimer's disease (AD; 95% CI = 3.3-6.4), 1.0% for vascular dementia (VD; 95% CI = 0.3-1.8), and 0.4% for dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB; 95% CI = 0.0-0.9). The prevalence of AD consistently increased with age, whereas that of VD peaked at age 75-79 years and decreased thereafter. Of the dementia patients, 72.0% were in the very mild or mild stages of the disease.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of dementia in a typical urban area of Korea was estimated to be 6.3%, and AD was the most prevalent subtype. DLB was less prevalent than VD among these community-dwelling Korean elders.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kangwon National University Hospital, Chunchon, Korea.
Jin Hyeong
JH
Jhoo
Ki Woong
KW
Kim
Yoonseok
Y
Huh
Seok Bum
SB
Lee
Joon Hyuk
JH
Park
Jung Jae
JJ
Lee
Eun Ae
EA
Choi
Changsu
C
Han
Il Han
IH
Choo
Jong Chul
JC
Youn
Dong Young
DY
Lee
Jong Inn
JI
Woo
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000208:ethnology*; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000208:ethnology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data