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This paper reviews missing person incidents that occurred in older persons with dementia reported in local newspapers from 1 January 1999 to 1 May 2002. Ten relevant incidents, two of which happened to the same person, were found in WiseNews, an electronic database of 21 local newspapers. There were four (44%) males and five (56%) females with a mean age of 77 (standard deviation=5). In six (60%) cases, the missing persons eloped from home and four (40%) outside of home. Nine (90%) of the cases required less than a day to three days to locate the missing person. Six (60%) cases resulted in injuries or death due to falls or traffic accidents. It is not uncommon for dementia patients to get lost. Public awareness and understanding of the phenomenon is very important because the survival of missing persons depends on the implementation of timely and effective search and rescue. This analysis confirms the need for a prospective study to further examine the characteristics of missing older adults and missing incidents, as well as the search strategies adopted by caregivers.

这篇文章旨在回顾由一九九九年一月一日至二零零二年五月一日以来在本地报章上报导过的有关老年痴呆症患者走失的个案。WiseNews是一个包含二十一份本地报章的电子资料库。我们通过WiseNews搜索到十宗有关的报导，其中两宗个案发生在同一个患者身上。走失患者当中有四名男性，五名女性，年龄由七十到八十六岁［平均数：七十七］。在六宗［六成］走失个案当中，患者是从居所走失的，而另外四宗［四成］则发生在居所以外的地方。九宗［九成］个案需要少於一天至三天的时间去寻回走失患者。六宗［六成］个案涉及受伤或死亡。走失现象在老年痴呆症患者当中颇为普遍，走失患者的安危取决於及时和有效率的搜索及拯救策略。因此，大众需要对这现象有更多的了解。本文的分析显示本地需要对此问题作前瞻性的调查，使本地社会及健康服务从业员能掌握走失痴呆症患者的特徵，一般走失的情况及照顾者面对这问题的策略，从而提供合宜的协助。