HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 01.wnl.0000320508.11013.4fv1 71/19/1470    most recent Correspondence: Submit a response Correspondence: View responses Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Smith, K. Articles by LoGiudice, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Smith, K. Articles by LoGiudice, D. Related Collections All Medical/Systemic disease All Cognitive Disorders/Dementia Prevalence studies Related Article

High prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment in Indigenous Australians

From the Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing (K.S., L.F., N.T.L., O.P.A., A.D.D.A.), School of Primary Aboriginal and Rural Health Care (K.S., D.A.), School of Medicine and Pharmacology (K.S., L.F.), and School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (N.T.L., O.P.A.), University of Western Australia; Departments of Geriatric Medicine (L.F.) and Psychiatry (N.T.L., O.P.A.), Royal Perth Hospital; Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council (D.A.), Broome; Department of Psychiatry (N.T.L.), Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St. Vincent’s Health, University of Melbourne; and Royal Park Melbourne Health and National Ageing Research Institute (D.L.), Australia.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Leon Flicker, Director of Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing, University of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, Box X2213, Perth, WA Australia 6001 Leon.Flicker{at}uwa.edu.au

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment among older Indigenous Australians.

Methods: A total of 363 Indigenous Australians aged over 45 years from the Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia were assessed with the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA). All those scoring less than 37 on the KICA and a percentage of those scoring 37 or more were reviewed by specialist clinicians and DSM-IV consensus diagnoses were obtained from two other specialists blinded to KICA results.

Results: The prevalence of dementia was 12.4%, substantially higher than in the Australian general population. The prevalence of cognitive impairment not dementia was 8.0%.

Conclusions: The prevalence of dementia among Indigenous Australians is substantially higher than that found in non–Indigenous Australians and all other studied populations.

Abbreviations: CIND = cognitive impairment not dementia; DSM-IV = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition; KICA = Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment.

Editorial, page 1466

e-Pub ahead of on September 17, 2008, print at www.neurology.org.

Supported by the (Australian) National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants 219194 and 353612. The NHMRC had no role in the study design, study implementation, data interpretation, or drafting of this article.

Disclosure: The authors report no disclosures.

Received February 24, 2008. Accepted in final form May 6, 2008.

Related Article

Cognitive health in indigenous peoples

David A. Bennett
Neurology 2008 71: 1466-1467. [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Kountouras, E. Gavalas, M. Boziki, C. Zavos, G. Deretzi, N. Grigoriadis, E. Tsiaousi, P. Katsinelos, D. Chatzopoulos, D. Tzilves, et al. HIGH PREVALENCE OF DEMENTIA AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS Neurology, August 11, 2009; 73(6): 487 - 488. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. A. Bennett Cognitive health in indigenous peoples Neurology, November 4, 2008; 71(19): 1466 - 1467. [Full Text] [PDF]

Correspondence: