The prevalence of dementia: The confusion of numbers

Abstract

The prevalence of dementia in American society is an important statistic. In order to allocate public dollars to both research and service programs designed for cognitively impaired persons and their families, and to aid policy makers at the community level in planning for services and facilities to meet the needs of their populations, accurate estimates of persons with dementia are critical. Inaccurate figures can lead to inefficiency in allocating resources at both the national and local levels, underutilization of resources resulting from overestimated demand, or barriers to access arising from excess demand for insufficient services.