Prevalence of dementia and its correlates among participants in the National Early Dementia Detection Program during 2006-2009.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of dementia and its correlates among people with poor socioeconomic status, poor social support systems, and poor performance on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE-KC).


METHODS
We used 2006-2009 data of the National Early Dementia Detection Program (NEDDP) conducted on Jeju Island. This program included all residents >65 years old who were receiving financial assistance. We examined those who performed poorly (standard deviation from the norm of <-1.5) on the MMSE-KC administered as part of the NEDDP, using age-, gender-, and education-adjusted norms for Korean elders. A total of 1708 people were included in this category.


RESULTS
The prevalence of dementia in this group was 20.5%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the following factors were statistically significantly associated with dementia: age of 80 or older, no education, nursing home residence, and depression.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of dementia is very high among those with lower MMSE-KC scores, and significant correlates include older age, no education, living in a nursing home, and depression. Enhancing lifetime education to improve individuals' cognitive reserves by providing intellectually challenging activities, encouraging living at home rather than in a nursing home, and preventing and treating depression in its early phase could reduce the prevalence of dementia in this population.
Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Medical Science, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea. mdkim66@jejunu.ac.kr
Moon-Doo
MD
Kim
Joon-Hyuk
JH
Park
Chang-In
CI
Lee
Na-Ri
NR
Kang
Jae-Sung
JS
Ryu
Bong-Hee
BH
Jeon
Ki-Woong
KW
Kim
Won-Myong
WM
Bahk
Bo-Hyun
BH
Yoon
Seunghee
S
Won
Jun Hwa
JH
Lee
Duk-Soo
DS
Kim
Seong-Chul
SC
Hong