Dementia Prevalence in Senegalese Elderly: Impact of Age, Education, and Social Network

Abstract

With the ageing of the population, dementia is increasing. In Africa, studies on dementia of the elderly 
are seldom. However, dementia exists and is not well documented in Senegal especially among the 
elderly population. We conducted a study to estimate the prevalence of this disease among Senegalese 
elderly population utilizing the Medico Social and University Center of IPRES, Dakar-Senegal. The study 
was cross-sectional and intended, through a two-wave process of data collection, to collect data from 
March 2004 to December 2005 among Senegalese elderly population (aged 65 years) over utilizing the 
MedicoSocial and University Center of IPRES, Dakar-Senegal for health care. Sociodemographic, 
medical history, lifestyles and social network data were collected with a structured questionnaire 
completed with a clinical examination and neuropsychological testing. Diagnosis of dementia was 
based on DSM IV criteria. The population composed of 507 patients with a mean age of 72.4 years 
(±5.25), mostly male, married, and non-educated. Hypertension, arthritis, gastro-intestinal, respiratory 
and urinary diseases were the main health conditions reported. The elderly population had a high social 
network. 45 patients (8.87; 95% IC: 7.61 to 10.13) had dementia in which prevalence varied significantly 
with age, education and social network. The results confirm the variability of dementia with age, 
education and social network at the Medico Social and University Center of IPRES, Dakar-Senegal.