Epidemiology of Early-Onset Dementia in Ehime

　Tetsuo Kashibayashi^1,2), Tomohisa Ishikawa³⁾, Kenjiro Komori²⁾, Hideaki Shimizu²⁾, Ryuji Hukuhara²⁾, Satoshi Tanimukai²⁾

¹⁾Department of Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Nishi-Harima Hospital, Hyogo Prefectural Rehabilitation Center at Nishi-Harima
²⁾Department of Neuropsychiatry, Neuroscience Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan
³⁾Institute for Aging Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Hyogo Brain and Heart Center at Himeji

　　Patients with onset of dementia before the age of 65 years, defined as early-onset dementia (EOD), play in strain the family budget and are a considerable socio-economic burden. Despite this there have been very few systematic studies on the prevalence of EOD and the use of related social welfare services. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of EOD and the use of social welfare services by families with an EOD family member in Ehime. A postal survey requesting information on EOD cases was sent to 2,626 institutions in Ehime, including hospitals, medical office, and healthcare facilities for the elderly. Survey questions concerned EOD diagnosis, as well as the existence or absence of a disability certificate, disability pension, and care insurance. The estimated prevalence rate of EOD was 53.4 per 100,000 population of the age 18 to 64 years. Of the illnesses that cause EOD, vascular dementia was the most frequent (40.3%) followed by Alzheimer's disease (31.4%). As for social security systems, only 33.9% of EOD patients had a disability certificate, 29.1% disability pension, and 57.4% care insurance. This low prevalence of social security systems was found to greatly increase the burden on patients and caregivers.

Address correspondence to Dr. Tetsuo Kashibayashi:Department of Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Nishi-Harima Hospital, Hyogo Prefectural Rehabilitation Center at Nishi-Harima(1-7-1 Koto, Shingu-cho, Tatsuno, Hyogo 679-5165, Japan)