Dementia prevalence is declining among older Americans, study finds

The age-adjusted prevalence of dementia declined from 12.2% of people over age 65 in 2000 to 8.5% of people over age 65 in 2016, a nearly one-third drop from the 2000 level. The prevalence of dementia decreased over the entire period, but the rate of decline was more rapid between 2000 and 2004.

Differences in the prevalence of dementia between Black men and white men narrowed, with the prevalence of dementia dropping by 7.3 percentage points among Black men as compared to 2.7 percentage points among white men.

The reasons for the decline in the prevalence of dementia are not certain, but this trend is good news for older Americans and the systems that support them, said the researchers. This decline may help reduce the expected strain on families, nursing homes and other support systems as the American population ages concluded the researchers.

Reference:

Dementia prevalence is declining among older Americans, study finds; RAND CORPORATION JOURNAL Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212205119.