Chinese Oldest Old with Dementia: Study on the Causes of Dementia from a Sociodemographic Point of View

Ying Ji, Peking University
Lei Zhang, Peking University

It's well known that dementia is one of the severe syndromes jeopardizing the health of the elderly. In this paper, we describe the differentials between the oldest old with and without dementia, and further explore the factors influencing the dementia of the oldest old (age 80 or above) in China, based on the data from Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 1998, using Brief Screening Scale for Dementia (BSSD). Firstly, the respondents were screened by BSSD, being distinguished into screened-in and screened-out. Then, we compare the differentials of personal behavior, physical health, as well as social-demographic, economic and cultural characteristics between the screened-in and the screened-out to explore the factors causing the dementia. The results reveal that only six percent are screened-in, most of who are female, those at advance age, those who do physical excise over-frequently, and who can't go to hospital in time when getting sick.