title: Prevalence of dementia in Al Kharga District, New Valley Governorate, Egypt.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With aging, there is a parallel increase in the prevalence of dementia worldwide. The aim of this work is to determine the prevalence of dementia among the population of Al Kharga District, New Valley, Egypt.
  
  
  METHODS
  Screening of all subjects aged ≥50 years (n = 8,173 out of 62,583 inhabitants) was done through a door-to-door survey by 3 neurologists, using a short standardized Arabic screening test and a modified Mini-Mental State Examination. Suspected cases were subjected to full clinical examination, psychometric assessment using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, Hachinski Ischemic Score, DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria, neuroimaging, and laboratory investigations, when indicated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence rate of dementia was 2.26% for the population aged ≥50 years. It increased steeply with age to a maximum of 18.48% for those aged ≥80 years. Alzheimer's disease (51.2%) was the most common subtype, followed by vascular dementia (28.7%), dementia due to general medical conditions (12.8%), and lastly dementia due to multiple etiologies (7.3%). Mild dementia was the commonest (53.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dementia is prevalent in Egypt as elsewhere. Detection through a door-to-door survey is the best method in developing countries for early detection of mild cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hamdy N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: El Tallawy
authors.forename: Wafaa M A
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Farghly
authors.forename: Ghaydaa A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Shehata
authors.forename: Tarek A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Rageh
authors.forename: Nabil Abdel
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Hakeem
authors.forename: Noha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abo-Elfetoh
authors.forename: Ahmed M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hegazy
authors.forename: Ibraheem
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rayan
authors.forename: Essam A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: El-Moselhy
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015897:Comorbidity; D003704:Dementia / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology