Dementia in Palliative Care in the Seychelles' Hospice

Background: Dementia presents a high prevalence both in developed and developing countries. It is one of the main causes of terminal stage for a non oncological illness. Objective: To determine the behaviour of some biological variables in terminal stage patients with dementia. Method: A descriptive study was conducted in 16 patients with a diagnostic of dementia in terminal stage. These patients were admitted in the Seychelles' Hospice between February 2010 and February 2011. The behaviour of dementia in relation to patient's age, type of dementia, responses to the Folstein's cognitive mini-test, Charlson's and Barthel's indexes, presence of non communicable chronic diseases, and health settings responsible for the remission was analyzed. Results: 31,3 % of patients admitted in the Hospice presented dementia. The age group with more cases was that from 75 to 84 years old. Vascular dementia and Alzheimer's Disease presented the same number of cases (37,5 % each). 56% of the patients died during the first 15 days of admission and only 12,5 % lived more than 6 months. Hypertension and cerebrovascular disease were the most common non communicable chronic diseases. 56% of cases had been remitted from hospitals. Conclusions: Dementia in terminal stages follows a behaviour that allows anticipating an appropriate strategy for palliative care in the Hospice.