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The changing prevalence and incidence of dementia over time — current evidence

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Yu-Tzu WuORCiD, Professor Fiona MatthewsORCiD, Professor Carol Brayne

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This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Nature Publishing Group , 2017.

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Abstract

© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. Dementia is an increasing focus for policymakers, civil organizations and multidisciplinary researchers. The most recent descriptive epidemiological research into dementia is enabling investigation into how the prevalence and incidence are changing over time. To establish clear trends, such comparisons need to be founded on population-based studies that use similar diagnostic and research methods consistently over time. This narrative Review synthesizes the findings from 14 studies that investigated trends in dementia prevalence (nine studies) and incidence (five studies) from Sweden, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, France, the USA, Japan and Nigeria. Besides the Japanese study, these studies indicate stable or declining prevalence and incidence of dementia, and some provide evidence of sex-specific changes. No single risk or protective factor has been identified that fully explains the observed trends, but major societal changes and improvements in living conditions, education and healthcare might have favourably influenced physical, mental and cognitive health throughout an individual's life course, and could be responsible for a reduced risk of dementia in later life. Analytical epidemiological approaches combined with translational neuroscientific research could provide a unique opportunity to explore the neuropathology that underlies changing occurrence of dementia in the general population.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Wu YT, Beiser AS, Breterler MMB, Fratiglioni L, Helmer C, Hendrie HC, Honda H, Ikram MA, Langa KM, Lobo A, Matthews FE, Ohara T, Peres K, Qiu C, Seshadri S, Sjolund BM, Skoog I, Brayne C

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Nature Reviews Neurology

Year: 2017

Volume: 13

Issue: 6

Pages: 327-339

Print publication date: 01/06/2017

Online publication date: 12/05/2017

Acceptance date: 17/03/2017

Date deposited: 23/03/2017

ISSN (print): 1759-4758

ISSN (electronic): 1759-4766

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2017.63

DOI: 10.1038/nrneurol.2017.63

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