The multidisciplinary project of dementia study in northern Taiwan (DSNT): Background and methodology

The purpose of this report is to describe the background and methodology of the multidisciplinary project of dementia study in northern Taiwan from August 1991 to August 1993. The study was carried out in Ta-an District of Taipei City and Chin-shan Hsiang of Taipei County. They represented an urban and a rural area of northern Taiwan respectively. We employed two-phase and three-phase procedures for case finding and case confirmation for patients with dementia. The prevalence rates of dementia, subtypes of dementia, and behavioral problems were studied for the patients. The caregiver experiences and burden were also investigated. The present study involved multidisciplinary groups of researchers. This may partially give insight into the multidimensional problems of dementia in Taiwan.