§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of people suffering from senile dementia; and what is his estimate of the percentage of the (a) post-70, (h) post-75 and (c) post-80 years age groups suffering from it.
§ Mr. John MacKayThis information is not available since it is not possible to estimate accurately the national prevalence of a disease the less severe cases of which may not be recorded. However, the number of residents in mental hospitals and psychiatric units who are suffering from senile dementia provides some measure of the prevalence of the more severe forms of this disease. At the beginning of 1985 the number of such patients in Scotland was 727 aged 65 to 74 years; and 3,588 aged 75 years and over. These figures correspond to rates for Scotland of 0.6 per thousand population for those aged 65 and over and 1.2 per thousand for those aged 75 and over.