Cultural aspects of dementia

This paper critically reviews current knowledge regarding culture and dementia in order to identify unanswered questions in the field. Medline was searched from 1993-2000. One hundred nine articles were identified, of which 59 were critically reviewed, augmented by additional references from experts and by books. Limited research evidence was identified in four areas: 1) the recognition of dementia across cultures 2) cultural specificity of screening tools 3) identification of differences in risk factors, incidence, onset and prevalence across culture 4) culturally related issues in decision making about management. Implications for research and practice are described.