Summary of findings from prevalence studies of dementia and cognitive impairment in Malaysia
| First author (year) | Sample | N | Age | Neuropsychological assessment | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krishnaswamy (1997)5 | 3 urban settlements in Kuala Lumpur. No response rate given Only Ethnic Malays were tested | 522 | ≥60 | 2-stage screening. ECAQ (cut-off score≤6) used for further testing using GSM for an AGECAT diagnosis of dementia according to ICD-10 (in Kampung Baru only, N=400). Neurologist re-examined dementia patients a 3 months | 6% dementia in people aged ≥65 and 12% in people aged ≥75 (sample size=323). |
| Sherina (2004)6 | Rural community of a village of Selangor state. 84.8% response rate | 223 | ≥60 | ECAQ (cut-off score ≤5) | 22.4% cognitively impaired |
| Rashid (2006)7 | 2 coastal villages in Kuala Muda in Kedah. No response rate given | 92 | ≥60 | ECAQ (cut-off score ≤4) | 18.5% cognitive impairment |
| Al-Jawad (2007)8 | 200-bed Government run residential home, Malaysia. 83.5% response rate | 167 | ≥60 | ECAQ (cut-off score ≤4, reflecting probable dementia) | 36.5% dementia |
| Khaw (2009)9 | 190-bed privately run care home, Penang Malaysia. 81.6% response rate | 155 | ≥60 | ECAQ (cut-off score ≤5) | 12.3% dementia |
| Norlaily (2009)10 | Outpatient clinics of University Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM), east coast of Peninsular Malaysia 0.100% response rate phase 1 and 83% phase 2 (N=39/47) | 399 | ≥65 | 2-stage screening. Literate: MMSE (cut-off ≤17) and illiterate: ECAQ (cut-off ≤5). All impaired had a clinical interview based on DSM IV criteria | 2.5% dementia |
| Hamid (2010)11 | National, including all 13 Malaysian states and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. All community dwelling. 88% response rate | 2980 | ≥60 | GMS-B3 (AGECAT diagnosis of dementia) | 14.3% dementia |
| Rashid (2012)12 | 22 villages from Kedah, a north western state in Malaysia. 97.7% response rate | 418 | ≥60 | ECAQ (cut-off score ≤4, reflecting probable dementia) | 11% cognitively impaired |
| Razali (2012)13 | Anteeds of the Medical and Nephrology Clinics at UKMMC. Response rate 96.9% | 346 | ≥60 | MMSE (MCI defined as impairment on delayed recall of verbal material, non-verbal material, or both, from the MMSE, with a total score of 21–28/30 on the MMSE) | 64.7% MCI. 3.1% had MMSE≤20 |
| Arabi (2013)14 | 2 primary care clinic in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. 96.7% response rate | 155 | ≥60 | EDQ, MMSE≤21 | Prevalence of early dementia using the EDQ was 52.3%, and prevalence of dementia using MMSE was 15.3%. |
| Pu'un (2014)15 | Melanau population in Mikah (8 out of 32 villages), an indigenous population in Sarawak. 28% of elderly population screened | 344 | ≥60 | Two-stage screening. ECQA (cut-off score ≤5, reflecting probable dementia) further evaluation by clinical interview (using DSM-IV-TR criteria for dementia) | 27.3% cognitive impairment and 10.5% dementia |
AGECAT, Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy; BMI, body mass index; CVS, cardiovascular illnesses variable incorporating hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease, hyperlipidaemia and stroke; DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; DSM-IV-TR, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (IV), Text Revision (TR); ECAQ, Elderly Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire; EDQ, Early Dementia Questionnaire; GSM, Geriatric Mental State Examination; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; MCI, Mild Cognitive Impairment; MMSE, Mini Mental State Examination.