High dementia rates in Kimberley
Gerontologists working in Western Australia’s Kimberley have devised a series of dementia tests suitable for Indigenous people from remote communities. According to Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing Professor Leon Flicker, older Kimberley Aboriginal people have a prevalence of dementia.
Gerontologists working in Western Australia’s Kimberley have devised a series of dementia tests suitable for Indigenous people from remote communities.
According to Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing Professor Leon Flicker, older Kimberley Aboriginal people have a prevalence of dementia five times as high as non-aboriginal Australians.
The tests, called Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA), were applied to a random sample of 383 Indigenous people aged 45 years and over in Derby and in six Aboriginal communities.
Appropriate testing was required, according to Professor Flicker, who says about 40% of the participants reportedly, had less than one year of education or no schooling at all.
“The pen-and-paper questionnaires weren’t really suitable for people who have very little education and live an indigenous lifestyle, so it just wasn’t possible to assess cognitive impairment using the standard tools or instruments,” he explains.
The tests include animal picture recognition and recall for written words, as well as oral questions about matters of common cultural knowledge such as whether or not it was pension week.
Results reportedly show a high dementia and cognitive impairment rate among remote Aboriginal people who aree relatively young.
The high rate may be associated with head injury, gender, and factors contributing to vascular dysfunction such as smoking, diabetes, high blood-pressure and poor nutrition.
