The Effect of a Screenig Instrument on The Prevalence of Dementia among Community dwelling Elderly Nigerians

Background: Dementia is one of the important diseases in old age; however the prevalence shows wide variation from one region of the world to another.Aim: To examine the effect of different diagnostic methods on the prevalence of dementia among community dwelling elderly Nigerians.Methods : A total of 322 community dwelling elderly Nigerians and their care givers were interviewed using Sociodemographic Quest ionnai re,Consortium to Establish Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSI-D), Stick Design Test (SDT) and Blessed Dementia Scale (BDS). A standard diagnosis of dementia was made based on fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of dementia in both ICD-10 and DSM- IV. Other method based on performance in the psychometric tool was then used to classify the participants as either normal or having dement ia. The resul ts was compared and the level of agreement determined.Results: The mean age of the subjects was 75.54(SD±9.41) The prevalence of dementia using standard diagnostic criteria was 2.79%(95%CI 1.00-4.58%). The prevalence of dementia using Blessed Dementia Scale, Stick Design test and MMSE were similar to the prevalence reported using yearsstandard diagnostic criteria.Conclusion: The variation in the prevalence of dementia might rise due to method of diagnosis.Keywords : Dementia , Prevalence, Diagnosi