Prevalence and Number of People with a Dementia
Theme: Health and Wellbeing Status
Background Information
Dementia is a syndrome characterised by catastrophic, progressive global deterioration in intellectual function and is a main cause of late-life disability. Dementia usually affects older people and becomes more common with age. About 6 in 100 of those over the age of 65 will develop some degree of dementia, increasing to about 20 in 100 of those over the age of 85. Dementia can develop in younger people but is less common, affecting about 1 in 1,000 of those under 65. It is therefore important to ensure high standards of care and treatment are available, especially given the increasingly ageing population.
Data
The dementia data consists of the number of hospital admissions per year for dementia in Cumbria (ICD 10 F00-F03) over the five year period of 2004/05 – 2008/09 in the 65 and over age group. This data was taken from Cumbria PCT’s admitted patient care database. This represents a minority of cases of dementia, as many will not be admitted to hospital; however it gives some indication of how the issue varies between areas.
Estimates and future projections of the number of people with dementia from 2009-2030 were sourced from the Projecting Older People Population Information (POPPI) System. These figures represent the estimated number of people with dementia in the total population and so will be greater than the data detailing hospital admissions alone.
Cumbria
It is estimated that there are currently about 6,929people over 65 with dementia in Cumbria, 7% of this population (POPPI, 2009). The average number of hospital admissions per year with a main diagnosis of dementia in Cumbria over the five year period of 2004/05 – 2008/09 was 249. The data shows variation by gender: 108admissions/year for males compared to 141 admissions/year for females. This gives a rate of 286 hospital admissionsper 100,000 population over 65 per year (based on mid 2008 population estimates).
Districts within Cumbria
The data within Cumbria also shows variation by gender: for each district council the number of admissions was greater for females aged over 65 compared to their male counterparts (Figure 1). It should also be noted that, for both genders and the population in total, the district of South Lakeland had a far greater number of admissions/year for dementia in comparison to the other districts in Cumbria.
Figure 1: 2004/04 – 2008/09 Number of Hospital Admissions per Year for Dementia in the 65 and Over Population
The rate of admissions for dementia in the total population aged 65 and over was less than 0.40%for all district councils (Figure 2). The rate was greatest (and above the average for Cumbria) in South Lakeland (0.37%) and Barrow (0.28%) and, for all localities with the exception of Allerdale and Barrow district councils, was higher in the female population than the male.
Figure 2: 2004/05-2008/09Dementia Admissions in the 65 and Over Population
Dementia Projections
In line with a growing elderly population, the total number of people aged 65 and over predicted to have dementia is expected to increase in Cumbria by 86% from 6,929 in 2009 to 12,864 in 2030. This increase is expected for both genders in each district council (Figures 3-4) but the number of women with dementia is expected to be greater than that of men.
Figure 3: 2009-30 Male Population Aged 65 and Over Predicted to have Dementia
Figure 4: 2009-30 Female Population Aged 65 and Over Predicted to have Dementia
The numbers of peoplepredicted to have dementia is greatest in South Lakeland for the period stated, however, the greatest percentage increase in the numbers with dementia is expected for Eden (105%) (Figure 5). With the exception of Barrow-in-Furness, all district councils are projected to have percentage increases greater than those of England. Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle and South Lakeland are predicted to be below the average level of increase in Cumbria. It should also be noted that, whilst the numbers with dementia are greater for females, the rate of increase between 2008 and 2025 is greater for males.
Figure 5: 2009-30 Percentage Increase in Population Aged 65 and Over Predicted to have Dementia
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18 November 2009