Dementia among older patients attending National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

IntroductionThe older population is rapidly growing throughout the world. It has been estimated that the elderly will exceed 1 billion by 2020. 1 The increasing number of the older people has imposed a huge health impact on the society and is also accompanied by the greater decline in health and different domains of function. 2 Among the old population dementia has become the focus of attention of health care professionals' worldwide. This chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. Dementia is a condition which usually starts after the age of 65 years, but it may occur before the age of 65 years. 3 In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) dementia is placed under major neurocognitive disorders where cognitive deficits interfere with independence in everyday activities. 4 The prevalence of dementia is approximately 5% in general population older than 65 years of age and 20-40% in general population older than 85 years. 5 Different studies in Asia showed the prevalence of dementia among the persons aged 65 years and above were in between 2.4% to 3.5%. [6][7][8] According to World Health Organization (WHO), dementia has emerged as a public health priority because it causes the devastating economic burden on families and nations. The cost of dementia will rise at a greater rate than the prevalence. Therefore, societies all over the world should be prepared to face the social and economic burden of dementia. 9 Dementia is overwhelming for the caregivers. One study in India found that caregivers of people with dementia spent significantly longer time providing care and 16 times more likely to have a common mental disorder than care givers of other chronic disorders. 10 With the world's eighth largest population with 160 million people, the percentage of people aged more than 60 years in Bangladesh is projected to increase to 9% by 2025 and 21% by 2050. 11 Considering the above-mentioned facts on the dearth of data on dementia in Bangladesh and its huge importance have impelled the author to undertake the study. The objective of the study was to find out the proportion of dementia among older patients as well as to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of patients with dementia. This study will be a baseline study on dementia. SummaryDementia has become the focus of attention of health care professionals' worldwide. The objective of the study was to find out the proportion of dementia among older patients as well as to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of patients with dementia attending National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was a cross sectional study conducted in NIMH during the period from 1 st November 2014 to 30 th April 2015. For this purpose, 78 elderly patients aged e"60 years attending both in outpatient and inpatient departments of NIMH, satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected by convenient sampling tech...

Prevalence of dementia among older age people and variation across different sociodemographic characteristics: a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh

“…The interview schedule included an assessment of cognitive function using the MMSE (score range: 0–30). The MMSE was administered in Bangla language 19 , 20 , 21 and has been validated in Bangladesh previously. 22 A neurologist trained the research assistants to administer the MMSE and inter-observer reliability was assessed among the research staff prior to administration of the MMSE to study participants.…”