The first-ever county-level estimates of the prevalence of Alzheimer's were released this week at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. The Arizona counties with the highest prevalence are in the southern part of the state.
Yuma County is home to nearly 44,000 people over the age of 65, according to data from the Alzheimer’s Association. And out of all the counties in the state, it has the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease.
Katie Skvarce is with the group’s Desert Southwest Chapter.
"So, Yuma County has the highest and not, not by a ton, like margin, but it is the highest at 13.3%; followed by Santa Cruz and Greenlee Counties also in the southern part of the state, and those have 13.2 percent," she says.
Skvarce says these findings can help guide the allocation of resources to public health programs in those areas.
