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PREVALENCE OF DEMENTIA IN A RURAL SETTING: A REPORT FROM INDIA
Author(s) -
RAJKUMAR S.,
KUMAR SHUBA,
THARA R.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199707)12:7<702::aid-gps489>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - dementia , gerontology , population , medicine , rural area , cluster sampling , demography , rural population , rural community , cluster (spacecraft) , geography , environmental health , disease , sociology , computer science , programming language , pathology
A study to estimate the prevalence of dementia in a rural population was conducted in a community located on the outskirts of Madras city in South India. Seven hundred and fifty elderly 60 years of age and older, selected using the cluster sampling technique, were interviewed using the Geriatric Mental State schedule (GMS). The prevalence of dementia was 3.5%, the percentage increasing with age. These rural prevalence estimates were higher than in urban settings (WHO multicentre study on cognitive impairment and dementia in developed and developing countries, unpublished) and male/female differences were negligible. The difficulties associated with the use of the GMS in a non‐literate rural population are discussed. The implications of these findings for India's growing elderly population are highlighted. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.