Dementia rates are declining among older Australians in home and long-term care.

A study of 188,846 older people in South Australia receiving home care services has found the prevalence of dementia fell from 26 per cent in 2005 to 21 per cent in 2014.

For 348,311 older people starting long-term care, the dementia rate fell from 50 per cent in 2008 to 47 per cent in 2014.

Lead author Dr Stephanie Harrison says the positive findings could be the result of national public health measures to improve overall health of the population.

“Research consistently shows that there are measures which can be taken to reduce risk of dementia,” Dr Harrison said.

“By improving our physical health we might also be improving our cognitive health.

“Initiatives to improve factors such as smoking rates might be helping but we also have to consider that some risk factors for dementia, such as mid-life obesity rates, are increasing in Australia.

“It’s likely there are a combination of factors impacting dementia prevalence so there is probably still room for improvement.

“The findings are consistent with other studies reporting a decline in the prevalence of dementia in countries such as the US and the UK,” Dr Harrison said.

There are currently estimated to be more than 436,000 Australians living with dementia. Those figures are predicted to rise above 589,000 people by 2028 and above 1 million people by 2058.

“The overall number of older Australians with dementia and people accessing aged care will  increase because of the ageing population,” Dr Harrison said.

The study is accessible here.