Dementia Prevalence in Greece: The Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD).

Introduction: Study of the epidemiology of dementia to gain insight into putative predisposing and prophylactic factors is the first step toward establishing effective preventive and therapeutic strategies for this ever-growing public health problem. Relevant data in Greece are scattered and outdated.

Methods: We investigated dementia prevalence as part of a population-representative epidemiological study [Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD)] in 2 Greek regions.

Results: Our sample comprised 1792 adults 65 years of age or older, who received a full neurological and neuropsychological evaluation that led to a consensus diagnosis. The overall prevalence of dementia was 5.0%, with 75.3% of the cases attributed to Alzheimer disease. Dementia odds were 15.8% higher for every year of advancing age and 9.4% lower for every additional year of education. Carrying at least 1 APOE-ε4 allele doubled the risk of dementia, whereas sex did not exert a statistically significant effect.

Conclusions: Our results are consistent with previous research in Southern European countries; dementia prevalence in Greece is in the lower range of what has been reported globally.