Cognitive impairment and dementia in elderly people living in rural Benin, West Africa

Background/Aims: Dementia is increasing as a priority public health problem because of the ageing of the world population. Our goal was to estimate dementia and cognitive impairment prevalence in an elderly population of rural Benin. Methods: In a door-to-door survey, elderly people aged 65 years and above were screened using the Community Screening Interview for Dementia and the Five-Word Test. Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 10.4% and that of dementia was 2.6%. Age, current depressive disorder and absence of the APOE ε2 allele were significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment appears to be lower in this study than in developed countries. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG.