Prevalence and correlates of dementia among the community- dwelling elderly of Guwahati City, Assam

AUTHOR(s) : Saikia AM1 , Mahanta Neelakshi2 , Mahanta Ajaya3 , Deka Himamoni4 , Boruah Beeva5
DOI No. : 10.31741/ijhrmlp.v4.i2.2018.8

ABSTRACT :
Dementia is a major cause of disability in elderly population. But this issue is yet to get due attention and priority. This is mainly due to absence of valid statistics, inadequate documentation and lack of well validated screening tool. There is absolute dearth of information on dementia prevalence among community dwelling elderly in this North East region of the country.Objectives:To assess the prevalence of dementia among community dwelling elderly of Guwahati City and to find out the various correlates of dementia. Materials and Methods: This was a community based cross-sectional study conducted in ten (10) randomly selected wards of Guwahati city. Data collection was done by house to house visit after selection of first house randomly. Elderly fulfilling inclusion criteria were screened with vernacular adaptation of Hindi Mini Mental State (HMMSE) and Early Dementia Questionnaire (EDQ).Predesigned and pretested schedule was used to collect information on demographic profile, socioeconomic status, living status, and financial status, type of diet, smoking, use of alcohol and social and leisure engagement. Results: The prevalence of dementia on EDQ was found to be 11.25% and 1.25% on HMMSE .Age, gender, socioeconomic status, education, social and leisure engagement was found to be significantly associated with dementia. Conclusion: The high prevalence in the present study can be an eye opener for researcher to do further study with larger sample size. This definitely helps the planner for development of effective strategies. Keywords:Dementia, Elderly, Early Dementia Questionnaire, Hindi Mini Mental State Examination

PDF