Objective: To study the epidemiology of dementia in elderly Chinese and the stress of the family caregivers.
Design: A community random sample using a 2 phase design to ascertain the prevalence of dementia.
Materials and Methods: A stratified random sample of 1062 elderly (65 years and more) were first screened using the Elderly Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire and potential cases were interviewed with the Geriatric Mental State schedule.
Stress of family caregivers were assessed by the General Health Questionnaire. Behavioral problems of the dementia patients were rated on the Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale.
Results: The prevalence of dementia (Alzheimer's type and vascular dementia using DSM IV criteria) among the elderly Chinese was about 3 percent. For those who were 80 years and more, the rate was 12 percent.
There was no apparent gender difference.
Of the 48 family caregivers assessed, 22 (45.8%) scored 5 or more points on the GHQ. The high GHQ scores correlated to duration of care and the behavioral symptoms like delusion, hallucination, agitation and insomnia.
Conclusion: The prevalence of dementia in elderly Chinese in Singapore is quite similar to the rates in other Asian elderly. All the dementia patients were cared for by their families, who seemed to have a high level of stress related to the behavioral problems. In Asia, the challenge of new technologies is to enhance the human connection to improve the quality of care and reduce the stress of caring for the elderly with dementia at home.
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