Abstract Details

Title Prevalence of Dementia in Rural settings of Latin America and The Caribbean: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Topic General Neurology

Presentation(s) P6 - Poster Session 6 (11:45 AM-12:45 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 11-019

Objective To estimate the prevalence of dementia in rural settings across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Background Dementia poses a significant global public health challenge, especially in low-resource settings like rural LAC, where there are understudied racial and ethnic minorities. Factors such as less education, appropriate nutrition, and reduced access to adequate healthcare may contribute to higher prevalence rates in these populations.

Design/Methods A systematic review was completed using PubMed, SCOPUS, WoS, EMBASE, Scielo, LILACS, and grey literature for all studies published up to October 2024, focusing on dementia prevalence in rural settings from LAC. Only observational studies written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese were included. Quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for observational studies. A single-arm, random-effects meta-analysis of proportions was performed, with the I² statistic used to measure statistical heterogeneity.

Results A total of 1187 studies were screened, resulting in 19 eligible studies comprising 2294 patients from 8 countries. We observed high variability in the diagnostics procedures and the tools for assessing cognitive performance and the functionality. The pooled prevalence of dementia in rural LAC was estimated at 11% (95% CI: 7%-15%). Quality assessment indicated a medium to high risk of bias among the included studies. Substantial heterogeneity was observed [I2=98%], highlighting variability across the regions studied.

Conclusions The significant prevalence of dementia in rural LAC highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions to face the environmental factors and risks of cognitive impairment in these areas. Addressing dementia in these settings will require adapted strategies to cultural, linguistic, and ethnic factors for an adequate approach, diagnosis, and management.

Authors/Disclosures
Andre Lapeyre Rivera PRESENTER	Mr. Lapeyre Rivera has nothing to disclose.
Alexandra Chang	Dr. Chang has nothing to disclose.
Catherine Jara-Rodas	Miss Jara-Rodas has nothing to disclose.
Leonardo A. Arquinigo, Jr., Medical student	Mr. Arquinigo has nothing to disclose.
Rubí Angeles Alanya-Yangali	Miss Alanya-Yangali has nothing to disclose.
Hans Baltazar	Dr. Baltazar has nothing to disclose.
Eder Herrera, MD	Dr. Herrera has received research support from ASOCIACION PERUANA DE NEUROCIENCIAS ONG PARA LA SALUD.

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