The Demographic Characteristics and the Risk Factors of Dementia in SAUDI Elderly

Abstract

There is a little information about dementia in Saudis. This is a retrospective chart review study from1995 -2010. to describe the demographic characteristics and the risk factors of dementia, the prevalence of different types of dementia, and the current clinical practice of dementia in Saudi tertiary care hospital. A total of 418 demented patients (236 males, 182 females) their mean age was 78.8. Prevalence of diabetes 32%, hypertension 71.53%, dyslipidemia 30.05% and depression 24.41%. Clinically 64.37% of patients had memory impairment, 54.25% had confusion and 34.63% had personality changing. The commonest type of dementia was mixed dementia 18.37% followed by Alzheimer disease15.87%. 16.10% of patients had received cholinesterase inhibitor and 9.78% had received memantine. Infection was the commonest cause of frequent admission (40%) Mortality rate was 77.99%. The commonest cause of death was infection (38.34%) followed by cardiovascular causes like stroke (23.34%) and cardiac diseases (17.48%). Conclusion: (1) Mixed dementia is the commonest type of dementia in Saudis due to high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases risk factors. (2) High prevalence of depression among demented Saudi patients. It requires early recognition and treatment. (3) Demented patients have frequent admissions and long stay in hospital which makes the economic cost is very high. (4) Mortality rate among demented patients is high and the outcome of dementia is expected to be poor. The underlying message of this study is to increase awareness of the public and health system about the impact of dementia in Saudis and the need for prevention strategies, trained physicians and more research.