| [ Summary ] |
The Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy conducts an annual epidemiological study of hemodialysis patients, targeting dialysis facilities across the country. The presence or absence of dementia in these patients was examined in a study conducted at the end of 2009. Among the 204,540 patients who underwent hemodialysis at the facilities which responded to the questionnaire, 21,048 patients (10.3 %) had dementia. A comparison of data between gender groups, age groups, and those with complications from diseases indicates the following : (1) the prevalence of dementia among female patients is higher than that observed in male patients, (2) prevalence increases with age, (3) dementia prevalence rates in patients with diabetes are higher than those of the general population, and (4) the prevalence of dementia in patients with cerebral vascular disease is higher than that observed in those without cerebral vascular disease. |