Ama-cho study

Kenji Wada-Isoe¹⁾, Kenji Nakashima²⁾

¹⁾Division of Neurology, Department of Brain and Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University
²⁾National Hospital Organization, Matsue Medical Center

Ama-cho is a small island town located in Oki District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The public health nurses working as permanent care providers had kept detailed information about the physical and mental health of the entire town for over 30 years. The board certificated neurologists visited this town to examine dementia patients with public health nurses. Because the movement of the population is small, Ama-cho is a suitable area for a longitudinal epidemiological study. Here, we review our epidemiological surveys on dementia in Ama-cho and show change in prevalence of dementia during an half of a century.

Address correspondence to Dr. Kenji Wada-Isoe, Division of Neurology, Department of Brain and Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University (36-1 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Tottori 683-8504, Japan)