Design, methods and demographic findings of the DEMINVALL survey: a population-based study of Dementia in Valladolid, Northwestern Spain

Normative Data of the Story and Six-Object Memory Recall Tests in Older Spanish Adults: NEDICES Population-Based Cohort

Objective

We provide normative data for the story and six-object recall tasks, stratified by age and education in a large population-based cohort of older Spanish adults.

Method

The sample consisted of 2,581 participants without dementia (age range: 67-98 years) from different socioeconomic areas of central Spain. Normative data are presented in percentile ranks and divided into four overlapping age tables with different midpoints.

Results

Spearman correlations and shared variances were calculated to evaluate the effects of sociodemographic variables on both tasks. Our findings showed that age and education influence the scores in the story and six-object recall tasks, whereas sex had null effect on story recall and an almost negligible on object recall, respectively.

Conclusion

The norms presented herein are important for the correct interpretation of scores in the story and six-object recall tasks when assessing older adults in Spain.

Semantic Verbal Fluency: Normative Data in Older Spanish Adults From NEDICES Population-Based Cohort

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to provide the normative data stratified by age, sex and educational attainment for two semantic categories (animal and fruits) in older Spanish adults.

METHOD

A representative sample of 2,744 non-demented older individuals with different socioeconomic background was selected from the Neurological Disorders in Central Spain (NEDICES), a population-based study. Normative data are presented in percentile ranks and divided into four age-tables with different midpoints, using the overlapping interval procedure.

RESULTS

Correlation analyses showed that age, education and sex influence significantly the scores in both semantic tasks. Normative data presented here covered two urban (Margaritas & Lista) and one rural areas (Arévalo).

CONCLUSION

These norms may provide useful data for screening cognitive impairment more accurately in Spanish older adults.

Prevalence of dementia and subtypes in Valladolid, northwestern Spain: the DEMINVALL study

OBJECTIVE

To describe the prevalence of dementia and subtypes in a general elderly population in northwestern Spain and to analyze the influence of socio-demographic factors.

METHODS

Cross-sectional, two-phase, door-to-door, population-based study. A total of 870 individuals from a rural region and 2,119 individuals from an urban region of Valladolid, Spain, were involved. The seven-minute screen neurocognitive battery was used in the screening phase. A control group was included.

RESULTS

A total of 2,170 individuals aged 65 to 104 years (57% women) were assessed. There were 184 subjects diagnosed with dementia. The crude prevalence was 8.5% (95% CI: 7.3-9.7). Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence was 5.5 (95% CI: 4.5-6.5). Main subtypes of dementia were: Alzheimer's disease (AD) 77.7%, Lewy Body disease, 7.6% and vascular dementia (VD) 5.9%. Crude prevalences were 6.6% (AD), 0.6% (Lewy Body disease), and 0.5% (VD). Dementia was associated with age (OR 1.14 for 1-year increase in age), female sex (OR 1.79) and the absence of formal education (OR 2.53 compared to subjects with primary education or more).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of dementia in the study population was lower than the most recent estimates for Western Europe. There was a high proportion of AD among all dementia cases and very low prevalence of VD. Old age, female sex, and low education level were independent risk factors for dementia and AD.