Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques

Abstract Background To our knowledge capture-recapture techniques have not been used to estimate dementia prevalence using routinely collected data in England, nor have they been used to estimate changes in undiagnosed dementia over time. In this study we aimed to use routinely collected electronic...

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Main Authors: Naaheed Mukadam, Louise Marston, Katie Flanagan, Etuini Ma’u, Gary Cheung, Dankmar Böhning
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-01-01
Series:BMC Geriatrics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05591-0
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author Naaheed Mukadam
Louise Marston
Katie Flanagan
Etuini Ma’u
Gary Cheung
Dankmar Böhning
author_facet Naaheed Mukadam
Louise Marston
Katie Flanagan
Etuini Ma’u
Gary Cheung
Dankmar Böhning
author_sort Naaheed Mukadam
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background To our knowledge capture-recapture techniques have not been used to estimate dementia prevalence using routinely collected data in England, nor have they been used to estimate changes in undiagnosed dementia over time. In this study we aimed to use routinely collected electronic health records to estimate the number of undiagnosed dementia cases there are in England and how this has changed over time. We also aimed to assess whether proportion of undiagnosed cases differed by age group, ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation and sex. Methods We used routinely collected primary care data linked to hospital episode statistics from 1997 to 2018. We tabulated capture of dementia in each of the two datasets and used the Lincoln-Petersen estimator to estimate numbers of missing dementia diagnoses per year along with the estimated total number of cases and the proportion of cases identified. We calculated age and sex-adjusted prevalence of dementia for each year and used proportion of cases identified to estimate the underlying population prevalence of dementia per year. We conducted beta regression to estimate how sex, age band, deprivation and ethnic group affects the proportion of dementia cases identified, adjusting for year. Results Proportion of cases out of the estimated total that were identified, rose from 42.4% in 1997 to 84.4% in 2018. Estimated population prevalence of dementia rose from 1997 to a high of 4.4% in 2018 in those aged ≥ 65. Proportion of dementia cases identified did not vary by sex but a lower proportion of those from the South Asian ethnic group were diagnosed compared to the White population (coeff -0.115, 95% CI -0.218 to -0.011). Compared to those aged 65–74, those aged 75–84 and 85 + had higher proportions of dementia diagnosed (75–84 Coeff 0.259, 95% CI 0.153–0.366; 85 + Coeff 0.185, 95% CI 0.079–0.291). Those living in the two most deprived areas had a higher proportion of dementia diagnosed compared to the least deprived area (IMD quintile 4 vs 1 coeff 0.093, 95% CI 0.014 to 0.173, IMD quintile 5 vs 1 coeff 0.162, 95% CI 0.083 to 0.242). Conclusions Proportion of dementia cases identified has increased over time and results indicate that underlying prevalence of dementia may be lower than previously estimated but this needs replication. Greater focus needs to be given to those with dementia onset at younger ages and those from South Asian backgrounds as dementia is relatively under-diagnosed in these groups.
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spelling doaj-art-6c1c25e68d9241c3a295cf9c0d3217422025-01-05T12:45:23ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182025-01-012511910.1186/s12877-024-05591-0Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniquesNaaheed Mukadam0Louise Marston1Katie Flanagan2Etuini Ma’u3Gary Cheung4Dankmar Böhning5University College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity of AucklandUniversity of AucklandUniversity of SouthamptonAbstract Background To our knowledge capture-recapture techniques have not been used to estimate dementia prevalence using routinely collected data in England, nor have they been used to estimate changes in undiagnosed dementia over time. In this study we aimed to use routinely collected electronic health records to estimate the number of undiagnosed dementia cases there are in England and how this has changed over time. We also aimed to assess whether proportion of undiagnosed cases differed by age group, ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation and sex. Methods We used routinely collected primary care data linked to hospital episode statistics from 1997 to 2018. We tabulated capture of dementia in each of the two datasets and used the Lincoln-Petersen estimator to estimate numbers of missing dementia diagnoses per year along with the estimated total number of cases and the proportion of cases identified. We calculated age and sex-adjusted prevalence of dementia for each year and used proportion of cases identified to estimate the underlying population prevalence of dementia per year. We conducted beta regression to estimate how sex, age band, deprivation and ethnic group affects the proportion of dementia cases identified, adjusting for year. Results Proportion of cases out of the estimated total that were identified, rose from 42.4% in 1997 to 84.4% in 2018. Estimated population prevalence of dementia rose from 1997 to a high of 4.4% in 2018 in those aged ≥ 65. Proportion of dementia cases identified did not vary by sex but a lower proportion of those from the South Asian ethnic group were diagnosed compared to the White population (coeff -0.115, 95% CI -0.218 to -0.011). Compared to those aged 65–74, those aged 75–84 and 85 + had higher proportions of dementia diagnosed (75–84 Coeff 0.259, 95% CI 0.153–0.366; 85 + Coeff 0.185, 95% CI 0.079–0.291). Those living in the two most deprived areas had a higher proportion of dementia diagnosed compared to the least deprived area (IMD quintile 4 vs 1 coeff 0.093, 95% CI 0.014 to 0.173, IMD quintile 5 vs 1 coeff 0.162, 95% CI 0.083 to 0.242). Conclusions Proportion of dementia cases identified has increased over time and results indicate that underlying prevalence of dementia may be lower than previously estimated but this needs replication. Greater focus needs to be given to those with dementia onset at younger ages and those from South Asian backgrounds as dementia is relatively under-diagnosed in these groups.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05591-0DementiaEpidemiologyPrevalence
spellingShingle Naaheed Mukadam
Louise Marston
Katie Flanagan
Etuini Ma’u
Gary Cheung
Dankmar Böhning
Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques
BMC Geriatrics
Dementia
Epidemiology
Prevalence
title Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques
title_full Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques
title_fullStr Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques
title_full_unstemmed Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques
title_short Estimating undiagnosed dementia in England using capture recapture techniques
title_sort estimating undiagnosed dementia in england using capture recapture techniques
topic Dementia
Epidemiology
Prevalence
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05591-0
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