Introduction:

Cognitive impairment is one of the main public health challenges of our time. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of clinically diagnosed dementia in Western countries.

Objective:

To describe the impact of dementia.

Methods:

A bibliographic review was carried out from January to April 2023 in PubMed, MedLine, SciELO and Scopus databases, using the Google Scholar search engine. The keywords used were dementia; vascular dementia; Alzheimer disease. Original articles, systematic bibliographic reviews, health statistical yearbooks, reports from the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization and the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba were consulted. Ninety-five articles were consulted and 43 met the selection criteria.

Results:

It is estimated to be 55 million people with dementia worldwide, a figure that will reach 80 million in 2030 and 152 million in 2050 with a cost close to one trillion dollars annually on a global scale, more than 1% of the gross domestic product. Dementia has an overwhelming effect on affected people, family members and careers. It is the largest contributor to dependency, care needs, economic overload and psychological stress in the caregiver.

Conclusions:

Patients with dementia are classic prototypes of vulnerable patients. With the increase in life expectancy, its impact on patients, families, caregivers and health professionals is becoming increasingly important.

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