Resumen

GONZALEZ CACERES, José Alberto. Proposal of an Automated National Registry of Dementias in Cuba. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2013, vol.39, n.2, pp.354-372. ISSN 0864-3466.

This paper was aimed at putting forward a proposal of Central Registry of Patients with Dementia in Cuba, based on epidemiological surveillance model, and at presenting a data collection protocol on the basis of the minimum variables necessary for the implementation of the central registry. In Cuba, there are no epidemiological studies on dementia at domestic level and, on the other hand, data on the impact of dementia in terms of utilization of health and social resources are lacking. In addition to an Automated National Register of Dementias, as a clinical and epidemiological information source, it was suggested that the Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery should be the central reference unit and that a duly protected monitoring network shall be hosted on a institute website. These data will be useful to describe patterns of occurrence of dementia subtypes, to identify its main clinical features and to generate hypotheses for further clinical research projects. It was also stated to perform a pilot study with sentinel sites (hospitals and specialized centers) from where the registries may be subsequently extended to the primary health care system. Epidemiological surveillance represents a way to achieve better results in care of the patient; it may also become applied research, in which knowledge of the epidemiology of dementias turns into proposals, health policy planning, decision making and program implementations in order to improve the distribution of social and health resources of the affected population, the monitoring of the natural evolution of the disease and the implementation of preventive measures.

Palabras clave : dementia; case register; public health; epidemiological surveillance.

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