Prevalence of the Korsakoff syndrome in The Hague, The Netherlands

An epidemiological survey of the Korsakoff syndrome was made in The Hague, The Netherlands, by interviewing workers of all relevant health care organisations in that city. A prevalence of 4.8 per 10,000 inhabitants was found. The mean age of patients was 62 years. Seventy-five percent of all patients had already been hospitalised for several years. Physical and mental health, as judged by other medical diagnoses, was poor.