Yong XU, Jun WANG, Hongzheng WANG, Yanjiang WANG, Zhaorui LIU, Jintai YU, Zhi ZHOU, Dantao PENG, Baijun GU, Kuncheng LI, Qinghua HOU, Xin MA, Xiaoming WANG, Zhiwen WANG, Huifang WANG, Bin TANG
According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China in 2023, the population aged > 60 in China is about 280 million, accounting for approximately 19.84% of the total population. Among them, the population aged > 65 is about 210 million, accounting for approximately 14.86% of the total population. China has rapidly entered a deep aging society. The aging population has also brought about a rapid increase in age-related disabilities and diseases, bringing a heavy burden to society and families. Among them, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia in the elderly and one of the most common causes of loss of daily living abilities in the elderly. There are currently about 9.83 million AD patients in China, with a severe disease burden, which brings heavy medical, care, and economic burdens to families and society. It has become one of the most expensive, deadly, and burdensome diseases in current healthcare, seriously affecting public health and sustainable social development in China. However, the diagnostic and treatment rates of AD in China are still relatively low. Therefore, strengthening the prevention and treatment of AD, preventing and slowing down the occurrence and development of AD are urgent public health issues.
This report is aimed at the most concerned issues of people and government agency, such as: What is the current basic data on Alzheimer's disease in China? Why is the awareness rate relatively increased but the patient's desire to seek medical treatment relatively low? Are there any effective measures to address this?
This report summarizes the latest data available in various related fields, analyzes the current situation, problems, and trends of AD epidemiology, disease burden, diagnosis and treatment, risk factors, rehabilitation care, and disease screening in China, and proposes China's Alzheimer's disease prevention and control strategies, especially emphasized the importance of development of validated tools for screening and early diagnosis, the innovation of new drugs, and building and cultivating a nationwide network of localized social mutual assistance and support.
This report is to aid medical professionals, AD patients, family members and caregivers, government policy makers, elderly care institutions, etc. as they consider performances to provide better support for patients, to propose the formulation of relevant health policies, and to further raise public awareness of AD, to alleviate the overall burden of AD disease, and promote the realization of healthy aging in China.