4.0 Percent of Seniors Had Received Dementia Diagnosis in 2022

THURSDAY, June 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- In 2022, 4.0 percent of adults aged 65 years and older reported ever having received a dementia diagnosis, with similar percentages seen for men and women, according to a study published online June 13 in the National Health Statistics Reports, a publication from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Ellen A. Kramarow, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, estimated the percentage of noninstitutionalized older adults (aged 65 years and older) with a dementia diagnosis using data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Kramarow found that 4.0 percent of adults aged 65 years and older reported ever having received a dementia diagnosis in 2022, with the percentage similar for men and women (3.8 and 4.2 percent, respectively). There was an increase seen in the percentage of adults with a dementia diagnosis with age, from 1.7 to 13.1 percent for those ages 65 to 74 years and 85 years and older, respectively, while the percentage decreased with increasing education level, from 7.9 to 2.2 percent for those with less than a high school diploma and with a college degree or higher, respectively.

"Early detection and diagnosis of dementia is an important public health strategy as it allows patients and their families to plan for future needs," Kramarow writes. "Data from NHIS can be used to track progress towards these goals."

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