Identifying older people with dementia: The effectiveness of a multiservice census

A census of all relevant services in an area can; be used to identify people with mental impairment suggestive of dementia. Two censuses in Tayside, Scotland, were used to test the effectiveness of this method. False positives accounted for 12% of returns, After excluding false positives, by, comparison with expected dementia prevalence based on EURODEM, 66% of all sufferers and 50% of those living in the community were identified by the censuses, By pro-rating for non-response, the proportion of sufferers known to services was estimated as 72%. The characteristics of those nor known to services are unclear and further research is needed on this, The cost of a census in an area of 250000 population is under pound 3000. A multiservice census offers a simple, inexpensive, practicable method of constructing a sample Frame for population needs assessment. (C) 1997 by John Wiley a Sons, Ltd.