BACKGROUND The analysis of real-world data in clinical research is rising, but its use to study dementia subtypes has been hardly addressed. We hypothesized that real-world data might be a powerful tool to update AD epidemiology at a lower cost than face-to-face studies, to estimate the prevalence and incidence rates of AD in Catalonia (Southern Europe), and to assess the adequacy of real-world data routinely collected in primary care settings for epidemiological research on AD. METHODS We obtained data from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) database, which contains anonymized information of > 80% of the Catalan population. We estimated crude and standardized incidence rates and prevalences (95% confidence intervals (CI)) of AD in people aged at least 65 years living in Catalonia in 2016. RESULTS Age- and sex-standardized prevalence and incidence rate of AD were 3.1% (95%CI 2.7-3.6) and 4.2 per 1000 person-years (95%CI 3.8-4.6), respectively. Prevalence and incidence were higher in women and in the oldest people. CONCLUSIONS Our incidence and prevalence estimations were slightly lower than the recent face-to-face studies conducted in Spain and higher than other analyses of electronic health data from other European populations. Real-world data routinely collected in primary care settings could be a powerful tool to study the epidemiology of AD.

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是时候使用来自阿尔茨海默病初级保健的真实数据了吗？

背景技术临床研究中对真实世界数据的分析正在不断增加，但其在研究痴呆亚型中的应用却几乎没有得到解决。我们假设，真实世界的数据可能是一个强大的工具，可以以比面对面研究更低的成本更新 AD 流行病学，估计加泰罗尼亚（南欧） AD 的患病率和发病率，并评估 AD 的充分性。在初级保健机构中定期收集的真实世界数据，用于 AD 流行病学研究。方法 我们从初级保健研究发展系统 (SIDIAP) 数据库中获取数据，该数据库包含超过 80% 的加泰罗尼亚人口的匿名信息。我们估计了 2016 年居住在加泰罗尼亚的 65 岁以上人群中 AD 的粗略和标准化发病率和患病率（95% 置信区间 (CI)）。 结果 年龄和性别标准化 AD 患病率和发病率为 3.1%（ 95%CI 2.7-3.6) 和每 1000 人年 4.2 (95%CI 3.8-4.6)。女性和老年人的患病率和发病率较高。结论 我们的发病率和患病率估计略低于最近在西班牙进行的面对面研究，但高于对其他欧洲人群电子健康数据的其他分析。在初级保健机构中定期收集的真实世界数据可能是研究 AD 流行病学的有力工具。