Identification of dementia and MCI cases in health information systems: An Italian validation study.

Introduction: The identification of dementia cases through routinely collected health data represents an easily accessible and inexpensive method to estimate the prevalence of dementia. In Italy, a project aimed at the validation of an algorithm was conducted.

Methods: The project included cases (patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) recruited in centers for cognitive disorders and dementias and controls recruited in outpatient units of geriatrics and neurology.