Malaysia Women Face Poorer Health with Age
Reported, December 30, 2011
Results from the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians project, a large nationwide study of risk factors for dementia in the multiethnic country of Malaysia, a region that anticipates an exponential increase in an aging population over the next 10 years, find that women have a higher prevalence rate (24%) of dementia as compared to men (8.8%), outnumbering men by a 2:1 ratio.
Of the three health indices: hypertension, stroke, and self rated health status, higher prevalence rates were noted among those with stroke. The prevalence of dementia also correlated with self reported health, increasing from 5% in those reporting good health to 33% among those who view themselves in very poor health.
Other than sex specific differences, the prevalence of dementia is almost twice as high in rural populations than urban populations. Among the various ethnic groups, the Bumiputeras have the highest prevalence of dementia (32.1%), with ethnic Malays at half that (14.8%), and the Chinese much lower (6.3%) followed by Indians (5.8%). Risk of dementia is considerably higher among those with no formal education (24.1%) then those with primary (6.8%) or secondary or tertiary education (2.5%).
This study not only adds to the growing literature regarding the prevalence of dementia in multiethnic populations, but also highlights that women disproportionately bear the burden for this disease. Further studies assessing the socio-demographic and health associations in women are needed to help develop strategies to prevent the onset of dementia.
The goal of this project was to investigate the prevalence of mental health problems, identify the relationship between mental health status and quality of life in older Malaysians. Field work was initiated in 2004, and persons over 60 years of age coming from any of the 13 Malaysian states and the Federal territory of Kuala Lumpur were invited to participate.
A total of 2980 community dwelling older Malaysians (1503 women, 1477 men with an average age of 70.5 yrs) took part in the study. The prevalence of dementia for the entire sample was 14.3%. The prevalence rate of dementia increased with age, doubling every 10 years, from 9.5% in the 60-69 years age group, to 26.3% in those aged 80 and above.
Credits:By Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD,Associate Professor of Neurology
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
More information at:http://www.mywomenhealth.com/malaysia-women-face-poorer-health-with-age.html
