title: Dementia subtypes in Antalya, Turkey: a retrospective study.
abstract: The frequency of dementia is increasing steadily, and it is currently estimated that 60% of patients suffering from this disease reside in developing countries. An improvement in health care services for this elderly patients must be anticipated to assist in reducing the patient burden to their communities, families, and health systems; alternately, contributions made by hospitals through their diagnostic efforts and treatment of patients are of great importance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health records (n = 246) of patients in a dementia clinic for data regarding age, sex, occupation, reason for presentation, laboratory findings, neuropsychological tests, diagnoses made at presentation, and follow-up visits. Patients aged ≥ 60 years with cognitive symptoms were included in the study; mean age was 74.4 (SD, 7.58) years, with a predominantly female population (n = 142; 57.7%). The main reason for patient presentation was memory problems (n = 238; 96.7%). Administration of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) revealed a mean score of 19.14 (SD, 8.24) across the patient population; Montreal Cognitive Assessment mean test scores were 20.9 (SD, 5.31); and Clock Drawing Test median score was 2 points (min-max, 0-4). The most common diagnoses were Alzheimer-type dementia (n = 167; 67.9%) and mild cognitive impairment (n = 49; 19.9%). During a 31-month period, the dementia outpatient clinic was visited an average of 2.79 (SD, 2.32) times. Findings indicated that women had higher vitamin B12 levels (P = 0.001), lower MMSE scores (P = 0.022), fewer follow-up visits (P = 0.006), and higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (P = 0.02).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey. yaman.aylin@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Aylin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yaman
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yaman
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology