According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016, the estimated prevalence of dementia in Brazil was approximately 16.9% in 2016 (GBD 2016, 2019). A systematic review conducted between 1990 and 2010 with older people aged 60 years and over found that, among high quality studies, all conducted in urban areas of São Paulo state, the prevalence of dementia ranged from 5.1% to 19.0% (Fagundes et al., 2011). Another study projected the prevalence of dementia among people 65 years and older in Brazil based on Census data (2010). The authors estimated that prevalence in the national territory would be 7.9% in 2020 (Burlá et al., 2013). There are several articles reporting prevalence measures in the literature; all of these were conducted in the south or southeast of Brazil. Therefore, there is lack of updated studies representative of the Brazilian population. The incidence rate of dementia was 13.8 per 1,000 person-years according to a study carried out in the city of Catanduva, São Paulo, with individuals aged 65 years and over (Nitrini et al., 2004). A study conducted in the city of Porto Alegre found the incidence rate of Alzheimer’s disease as 14.8 per 1,000 person-years (Chaves et al., 2009).

References:

Burlá, C., Camarano, A. A., Kanso, S., Fernandes, D., & Nunes, R. (2013). Panorama prospectivo das demências no Brasil: Um enfoque demográfico. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 18(10), 2949–2956. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-81232013001000019

Chaves, M. L., Camozzato, A. L., Godinho, C., Piazenski, I., & Kaye, J. (2009). Incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer Disease in Southern Brazil. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 22(3), 181–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891988709332942

Fagundes, S. D., Silva, M. T., Thees, M. F. R. S., & Pereira, M. G. (2011). Prevalence of dementia among elderly Brazilians: A systematic review. Sao Paulo Medical Journal, 129(1), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-31802011000100009

GBD 2016. (2019). Global, regional, and national burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet Neurology, 18, 88–106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30403-4

Nitrini, R., Caramelli, P., Herrera, E., Bahia, V. S., Caixeta, L. F., Radanovic, M., Anghinah, R., Charchat-Fichman, H., Porto, C. S., Carthery, M. T., Hartmann, A. P. J., Huang, N., Smid, J., Lima, E. P., Takada, L. T., & Takahashi, D. Y. (2004). Incidence of dementia in a community-dwelling Brazilian population. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 18(4), 241–246.