Prevalence of dementia with Lewy bodies in an inpatient psychogeriatric population in Hong Kong Chinese

Objective To find out the prevalence of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in an inpatient psychogeriatric population in Hong Kong Chinese. Method Clinical notes of all dementia patients admitted to an inpatient psychogeriatric unit between 1 January and 31 December 2000 were reviewed to retrieve information on various subtypes of dementia that have been diagnosed prospectively using NINCDS-ARDRA, NINDS-AIREN, CDLB and DSM-IV by qualified senior psychogeriatricians. Result There were only three cases of dementia with Lewy bodies out of 102 dementia inpatients, giving a prevalence rate of 2.9% over a two-year period. Conclusion The prevalence rate of dementia with Lewy bodies is remarkably lower than figures reported in western studies. Further evaluation using better sampling frame and better-validated diagnostic gold standard is required. Ethnically related biological factors may be implicated to explain the preliminary low prevalence rate in Chinese population. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.