We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study. The study population comprised individuals with a DLB, AD, PDD, or PD diagnosis according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, in the French National Alzheimer Database between 2010 and 2015. Sex ratio and demographic data were compared using multinomial logistic regression and a Bayesian statistical model.
From 2010 to 2015 in French specialized memory settings, sex ratios (female percent/male percent) were found as follows: 1.21 (54.7%/45.3%) for DLB (n = 10,309), 2.34 (70.1%/29.9%) for AD (n = 135,664), 0.76 (43.1%/56.9%) for PD (n = 8744), and 0.83 (45.4%/54.6%) for PDD (n = 3198). Significant differences were found between each group, but not between PDD and PD, which had a similar sex ratio.
This large-sample prevalence study confirms the balanced gender distribution in the DLB population compared with AD and PD-PDD. Gender distribution and general demographic characteristics differed between DLB and PDD. This is consistent with the hypothesis that DLB is a distinct disease with characteristics intermediate between AD and PD, as well as with the hypothesis that DLB could have at least partially distinct neuropathological correlates.