Dementie: neuzen tellen blijft een uitdaging

In this article, the author comments on the research publication ‘Estimating the lifetime risk of dementia using nationwide individually linked cause-of-death and health register data’. By combining 7 Dutch registries on causes of death and the use of health care, the lifetime risk of dementia was calculated at 29.4% (women) and 18.3% (men). In 2017, 62% of the deaths either by dementia (15,950 persons) or with dementia (19,560 persons) occurred in nursing homes. Discussing the difficulties of adequate and linkable registrations, the author concludes that the lifetime risk of dementia is probably underestimated with an additional 3 to 5 percentage points. The author also suggests improvements for the registration of dementia (for instance by one integrated client record during the whole ‘dementia journey’) and for daily practice in dementia care, like better diagnostics, focus on quality of life, psycho-social interventions, advanced care planning, and comprehensive prevention programs.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.