title: Clinical characteristics of a nationwide hospital-based registry of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease patients in Korea: a CREDOS (Clinical Research Center for Dementia of South Korea) study.
abstract: With rapid population aging, the socioeconomic burden caused by dementia care is snowballing. Although a few community-based studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been performed in Korea, there has never been a nationwide hospital-based study thereof. We aimed to identify the demographics and clinical characteristics of mild-to-moderate AD patients from the Clinical Research Center for Dementia of Korea (CREDOS) registry. A total of 1,786 patients were consecutively included from September 2005 to June 2010. Each patient underwent comprehensive neurological examination, interview for caregivers, laboratory investigations, neuropsychological tests, and brain MRI. The mean age was 74.0 yr and the female percentage 67.0%. The mean period of education was 7.1 yr and the frequency of early-onset AD (< 65 yr old) was 18.8%. Among the vascular risk factors, hypertension (48.9%) and diabetes mellitus (22.3%) were the most frequent. The mean score of the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) was 19.2 and the mean sum of box scores of Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR-SB) 5.1. Based on the well-structured, nationwide, and hospital-based registry, this study provides the unique clinical characteristics of AD and emphasizes the importance of vascular factors in AD in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Duk L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: Seol-Heui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Ji-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hae-Kwan
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: Seong Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Yun
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang Hyung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Do-Kwan
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bon D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Ku
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Jun-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yong S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Young Chul
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Eun-Joo
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Beoung-Chae
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kee Hyung
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kyung R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Sang Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Jae-Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017028:Caregivers; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis; D003710:Demography; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012042:Registries; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires