Prevalence of dementia in Denmark

The prevalence of dementia in Denmark can be estimated to approximately 85.000 subjects in 2011.

This estimate is not based on data from Danish hospital registers as dementia is presumably under-diagnosed. Instead the prevalence estimate is based on the combination of two data sources:

• prevalence rates from European epidemiological studies
• population figures from StatBank Denmark.

StatBank Denmark is a free, on-line database containing detailed statistical information on the Danish society.

When prevalence rates from a meta-analysed estimate of dementia in Western Europe presented in World Alzheimer Report 2009 (WAR 2009) are combined with the Danish 2011 census an estimate on the prevalence of dementia in Denmark can be derived (table 1).

Future growth in dementia prevalence

As dementia prevalence is strongly associated with age and as the elderly population will be steadily increasing (according to StatBank Denmark projections) a significant growth in numbers of people with dementia is expected over the next decades (figure 1). In Denmark dementia prevalence will be increased by 50% at around year 2030 - unless curative treatments are found in the meantime.

World Alzheimer Report (2009)

A comprehensive literature search was conducted by an international working group constituted by Alzheimer's Disease International (2009). The team of scientists compiled a global database of epidemiological studies on dementia worldwide and conducted meta-analyses on dementia prevalence for various world regions. 46 studies were included in the meta-analysed age- and gender specific estimates of dementia prevalence for Western Europe.