Dementia has overtaken coronary heart disease as the leading cause of disease burden among Australians aged 65 and over.
The latest update to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) report Dementia in Australia showed dementia was responsible for almost 230,000 years of healthy life lost among people aged 65 and over in 2022, a 61 per cent increase since 2011.
Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of conditions that gradually impair brain function that may impact memory, speech, thought, personality, and behaviour.
“It is an increasing cause of disease burden in Australia, largely due to our ageing population but also from declines in burden from other leading causes, such as coronary heart disease,” AIHW spokesperson Melanie Dunford said.
“Dementia was responsible for 4.4 per cent of Australia’s disease burden in 2022, which includes both the impact of living with the condition (the non-fatal burden of disease) and dying prematurely (fatal burden), and was the second leading cause of death in Australia in 2020, accounting for 9.6 per cent of all deaths.”
In 2022, 401,300 Australians were estimated to be living with dementia, an increase of four per cent from the year before.
By 2058, the number is expected to outright double to 849,300.
The new report also includes information on the behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).
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BPSD refers to a range of non-cognitive symptoms that are common among people living with dementia, including agitation, aggression, insomnia and anxiety.
“While the deterioration of memory, language and cognition are hallmarks of dementia, the majority of people with dementia will also experience at least one type of BPSD as their dementia progresses,” Dunford said.
“BPSD can have a significant impact on people with dementia, carers and family, and has been associated with early admission to residential care, increased hospitalisation, distress for carers and reduced functional ability for the person with dementia.”
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Among those referred to BPSD support services between July 2021 and June 2022, agitation was the most recorded primary behaviour, accounting for almost 35 per cent of referrals.
This was followed by physical aggression (25 per cent), verbal aggression (11 per cent) and anxiety (6.4 per cent).
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