Clinical Characteristics of a Nationwide Hospital-based Registry of Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease Patients in Korea: A CREDOS (Clinical Research Center for Dementia of South Korea) Study

• Published in: Journal of Korean medical science Vol. 26; no. 9; pp. 1219 - 1226
• Main Authors: Park, Hee Kyung, Han, Seol-Heui, Kim, Ji-Young, Cheong, Hae-Kwan, Kim, Seong Yoon, Kim, Sang Yun, Hong, Chang Hyung, Kim, Do-Kwan, Ku, Bon D., Moon, So Young, Lee, Jun-Young, Shim, Yong S., Youn, Young Chul, Kim, Eun-Joo, Kim, Beoung-Chae, Park, Kee Hyung, Cha, Kyung R., Seo, Sang Won, Lee, Jae-Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 01.09.2011; 대한의학회
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - complications; Alzheimer Disease - diagnosis; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Caregivers; Dementia - diagnosis; Demography; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - etiology; Female; Hospitals; Humans; Hypertension - etiology; Interviews as Topic; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Radionuclide Imaging; Registries; Republic of Korea; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; 의학일반; Demography; Hospital-based study; Far East; Alzheimer's disease; Multicenter study; Dementia
• ISSN: 1011-8934; 1598-6357; 1598-6357
• DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2011.26.9.1219

With rapid population aging, the socioeconomic burden caused by dementia care is snowballing. Although a few community-based studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been performed in Korea, there has never been a nationwide hospital-based study thereof. We aimed to identify the demographics and clinical characteristics of mild-to-moderate AD patients from the Clinical Research Center for Dementia of Korea (CREDOS) registry. A total of 1,786 patients were consecutively included from September 2005 to June 2010. Each patient underwent comprehensive neurological examination, interview for caregivers, laboratory investigations, neuropsychological tests, and brain MRI. The mean age was 74.0 yr and the female percentage 67.0%. The mean period of education was 7.1 yr and the frequency of early-onset AD (< 65 yr old) was 18.8%. Among the vascular risk factors, hypertension (48.9%) and diabetes mellitus (22.3%) were the most frequent. The mean score of the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) was 19.2 and the mean sum of box scores of Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR-SB) 5.1. Based on the well-structured, nationwide, and hospital-based registry, this study provides the unique clinical characteristics of AD and emphasizes the importance of vascular factors in AD in Korea.