06.02.01. What is the estimated prevalence and incidence of dementia and the source of these estimates? | Hong Kong SAR

06.02.01. What is the estimated prevalence and incidence of dementia and the source of these estimates? | Hong Kong SAR

20 Aug 2022

From the population-based study conducted in 2005-2006, the prevalence of dementia in Hong Kong was 7.2% in people aged 60 and above (9.85% for female and 4.2% for male) and 9.3% in people aged 70 and above (15.3% for female and 8.9% for male). Alzheimer’s disease was the most common type of dementia which accounted for 63% of dementia patients. And 83% of the patients were in the mild stage (Elderly Commission, 2006). There is no available data for the incidence of dementia in Hong Kong.

Moreover, there are some additional sources estimating the prevalence of dementia in Hong Kong. A systematic review published in 2013, for example, estimated that the prevalence of dementia among people aged 65 and over was 6.8% in Hong Kong (Wu et al., 2013). Another study makes use of secondary data to predict the prevalence and trends of dementia in Hong Kong. It is projected that the number of people with dementia aged 60 years and above would increase from 103,433 in 2009 to 332,688 in 2039, an increase by more than 3 times (Yu et al., 2012). Besides, the population health survey in 2014-2015 estimates that the overall population prevalence of self-reported dementia is 0.6% for female and 0.2% for male (Centre for Health Protection, 2017). The Hospital Authority also estimates that 5-8% people aged 65 years and above and 20-30% people aged 80 years and above would have dementia of different extents (Hospital Authority, 2020, April 20).

References:

Centre for Health Protection. (2017). Report of Population Health Survey 2014/15. Retrieved from https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/static/51256.html

Elderly Commission. (2006). Prevalence of dementia in Hong Kong.  Retrieved from https://www.elderlycommission.gov.hk/en/download/meeting/Study%20on%20Prevalence%20of%20dementia.pdf.

Hospital Authority. (2020, April 20). Dementia. Retrieved from https://www21.ha.org.hk/smartpatient/SPW/en-US/Disease-Information/Disease/?guid=0ff3b12b-b3c0-4fa9-9bac-6bcf9dc501ba

Wu, Y.-T., Lee, H.-y., Norton, S., Chen, C., Chen, H., He, C., . . . Brayne, C. J. P. O. (2013). Prevalence studies of dementia in mainland china, Hong Kong and taiwan: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 8(6), e66252. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066252

Yu, R., Chau, P. H., McGhee, S. M., Cheung, W. L., Chan, K. C., Cheung, S. H., & Woo, J. (2012). Trends in prevalence and mortality of dementia in elderly Hong Kong population: projections, disease burden, and implications for long-term care. International Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/406852