Is dementia incidence declining?
Top Cited Papers
- 8 May 2012
- journal article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Neurology
- Vol. 78 (19), 1456-1463
- https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e3182553be6
Abstract
Objective: To investigate whether dementia incidence has changed over the last 2 decades. Methods: We compared dementia incidence in 2 independent subcohorts of persons aged 60–90 years from the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study. The first subcohort started in 1990 (n = 5,727), the second in 2000 (n = 1,769). Participants were dementia-free at baseline and followed for at maximum 5 years. We calculated age-adjusted dementia incidence rates for the 2 subcohorts in total, in 10-year age strata, and for men and women separately. We also compared mortality rates, differences in prevalence of vascular risk factors, and medication use. Finally, we compared brain volumes and the extent of cerebral small vessel disease in participants who underwent brain imaging 5 years after the baseline examinations. Results: In the 1990 subcohort (25,696 person-years), 286 persons developed dementia, and in the 2000 subcohort (8,384 person-years), 49 persons. Age-adjusted dementia incidence rates were consistently, yet nonsignificantly, lower in the 2000 subcohort in all strata, reaching borderline significance in the overall analysis (incidence rate ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56–1.02). Mortality rates were also lower in the 2000 subcohort (rate ratio 0.63, 95% CI 0.52–0.77). The prevalence of hypertension and obesity significantly increased between 1990 and 2000. This was paralleled by a strong increase in use of antithrombotics and lipid-lowering drugs. Participants in 2005–2006 had larger total brain volumes (p < 0.001) and less cerebral small vessel disease (although nonsignificant in men) than participants in 1995–1996. Conclusions: Although the differences in dementia incidence were nonsignificant, our study suggests that dementia incidence has decreased between 1990 and 2005.This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Rotterdam Scan Study: design and update up to 2012European Journal of Epidemiology, 2011
- The Rotterdam Study: 2012 objectives and design updateEuropean Journal of Epidemiology, 2011
- Change in risk of Alzheimer disease over timeNeurology, 2010
- Age‐Varying Association Between Statin Use and Incident Alzheimer's DiseaseJournal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2010
- Worldwide stroke incidence and early case fatality reported in 56 population-based studies: a systematic reviewThe Lancet Neurology, 2009
- Vascular risk factors and dementiaNeurology, 2009
- Aspirin and Extended-Release Dipyridamole versus Clopidogrel for Recurrent StrokeThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2008
- Incident dementia and blood pressure lowering in the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial cognitive function assessment (HYVET-COG): a double-blind, placebo controlled trialThe Lancet Neurology, 2008
- Use of statins and incidence of dementia and cognitive impairment without dementia in a cohort studyNeurology, 2008
- Global prevalence of dementia: a Delphi consensus studyThe Lancet, 2006