摘要
What is already known about this topic?Dementia affects approximately 5.3%of the population aged over 60 years in China—an estimated more than 10 million elderly people.Many older adults living with dementia have not been formally diagnosed,and a previous study found a peak of 93.1%of dementia patients during 2007–2011 remained undetected.What is added by this report?The latest undetected dementia rate and differences between urban and rural areas were estimated in this study based on a large nationwide study carried out in China in 2015–2016.The overall proportion of undetected dementia was 85.8%,75.0%in males,90.4%in females,77.5%in urban residents,and 93.5%in rural residents.What are the implications for public health practice?Efforts should be made to increase the awareness of dementia in the public,to improve the capacity of early recognition of dementia by primary care physicians in community settings,and also to improve the local diagnostic capability of dementia.
