Dementia 'under-detected in hospitals'

Detection of dementia in hospital patients is poor, experts have said.

Dr Shaun O'Keeffe of Merlin Park University Hospital has said in a BMJ Group Podcast that identification is "very poor".

He stated that medical professionals are failing to recognise delirium or acute confusion.

"The reason that is important is because delirium is a sign of acute illness and often the only presenting sign in older people," explained Mr O'Keeffe.

Meanwhile, research published in journal Archives of Neurology, has found that the incidence of dementia almost doubles with every five years of age in the "oldest" old women.

It was discovered that the prevalence of dementia increased from two per cent to three per cent in the 65 to 75 year old age ground to 35 per cent in people over the age of 85.

In addition, the incidence of dementia in women over the age of 90 was seen to be approximately double that with the 85 to 89-year-old category.

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