Epidemiology of age-related dementia in China.

Since the early 1980s, China has confronting adramatic change in population structure as well as arapid aging process. The proportion of the elderlyhas been increasing nation wide, and dementia is be-coming a major public health problem. However,the distribution of dementia among the aged, itsprevalence and incidence were unknown.Anepidemiological program was initiated in 1986 to in.vestigate this disorder in a community--based agedpopulation and to identify the possible risk factorsof Alzheimer's disease through collaboration withnine psychiatric hospitals in China, headed by the In-stitute of Mental Health, Beijing Medical University.