Abstract
BackgroundDementia is one of the most critical challenges of our time. According to the Dementia Statistics Hub, only about 66 % of all UK residents with dementia were diagnosed in 2017–2018. Yet, there are reservations about the early diagnosis of dementia-related diseases. As a result, the UK National Screening Committee does not recommend systematic population screening of dementia, although case-finding strategies are still applied for high-risk groups.MethodsThis study added additional evidence of the effectiveness of the National Dementia Strategy and increased numbers of diagnosis of dementia on the younger cohorts of the older people, using the intrinsic estimator age-period-cohort (APC) models and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data.ResultsAge effects show that diagnosis increases in volume only among those aged 75 and above, suggesting that many of those aged below 75 might not be diagnosed in time. Period effects show that although there was an initial increase due to the new policy implementation, the trend stalled in later years, indicating that the increase might not have been even across the period when controlled for age and cohort. The study also shows that cohort effects indicate lower prevalence in younger cohorts controlled for age and period effects.ConclusionsAlthough more research in diverse contexts is warranted, this study cautions against the abandonment of timely diagnosis, increased screening and case-finding, and shows some effectiveness of prevention strategies on the national level.
Highlights
Dementia is one of the most critical challenges of our time
Conclusions: more research in diverse contexts is warranted, this study cautions against the abandonment of timely diagnosis, increased screening and case-finding, and shows some effectiveness of prevention strategies on the national level
For those between 70 and 74, the prevalence rate doubled between the first and the second period and reverted to the first period’s levels in the third period. These results suggest that very few younger older people are diagnosed in a timely manner, even after the National Dementia Strategy (NDS), reflecting the current recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee
Summary
It shows that the prevalence rate increases with age and that it is higher in older cohorts, as expected. We show that the increased diagnosis in the pre-2015 period reported more cases of dementia for younger older people (in between 65 and 74) and among those who were 80–84 years of age. The IE modelling in APC analysis remains the most appropriate way to analyse the effects without having to impose constraints on either age, period, or cohort categories [10, 11, 13]. We did not include independent variables because the results for APC effects in IE models do not depend on independent variables or weights [12]
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