title: The French National Alzheimer database: a fast growing database for researchers and clinicians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major public health issue. The French National Alzheimer database (BNA) registers all medical acts performed by memory units and independent specialists throughout France. This article describes the national coverage, the registered patient characteristics and illustrates research possibilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  All data transmitted up to December 2012 were analyzed. The following patient characteristics were studied: age, sex, educational level, place of living, diagnosis, Mini-Mental State Examination score and existence of pharmacological or psychosocial interventions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of 2012, the BNA included 84% (n = 357) of all French memory units, contained 341,498 patients and more than 800,000 medical acts. AD accounted for 26.4% of all registered diagnoses, related disorders for 21.7% and mild cognitive impairment for 8.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BNA offers a multitude of research possibilities. In the coming years, the BNA will play a major role in monitoring trends and related risk factors in AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Nice University Hospital, Nice, France.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pradier
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chevrier
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Festraëts
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tifratene
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Robert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors