Photo/Illutration The National Police Agency in Tokyo announced a record 19,039 people with dementia were reported missing in 2023. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

As many as 19,039 people with dementia were reported missing in 2023, a record high since 2012 when police began keeping official records, the National Police Agency announced on July 4.

This is 1.8 times more cases than 10 years ago and a jump of 330 individuals from 2022.

The number of missing person reports last year in Japan totaled 90,144 nationwide, the highest in a decade, along with a record number of those having dementia. 

Cases concerning those with dementia have consistently trended upward since 2012.

Last year, 18,221, or 95 percent, of those missing with dementia were found alive, including those reported missing in or before 2022, while 250 remained missing.

Meanwhile, 502 were found dead, another record high since 2020, when police started documenting the status of the now-found person with dementia.

The NPA reasons the underlying cause for the growing number of people with dementia going missing is that the reality of an aging population means more people are being diagnosed.

By age, around 60 percent were in their 80s or older and more than 30 percent in their 70s. For other age groups, the number of missing in their 60s was 826, 140 in their 50s, nine in their 40s and two in their 30s. 

SETTING UP COUNTERMEASURES

Waffling on when to report that someone with dementia is missing can mean life or death.

“It is important to immediately call police and submit notification of a missing person,” said Kazunori Kikuchi, a researcher at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology.

Kikuchi noted the possibility of someone getting on public transportation and ending up much farther from where they started, also pointing out the chances of survival decrease after three days of being lost.

Ninety-nine percent of people were found within three days of police being notified in 2023 compared to two individuals found a year later.

He specified that for someone with dementia, while their cognitive abilities may have declined, their body can retain its motor skills.

Combined with other symptoms such as euphoric episodes or an inability to recognize one’s surroundings are reasons why setting out alone is immediately riskier.

For family members, Kikuchi said it is important that they obtain certification that will qualify them for long-term care services and to use them.

“Please find someone to consult with and don’t have the family take on everything alone,” he said, recommending talking to doctors and other experts on safety measures to prevent their loved one from getting lost.  

Rental GPS devices from their municipality and registering with an “SOS network” are two options Kikuchi suggested. The latter is a system where police, municipalities and companies work together to find missing people.

The NPA also shared data from a new survey on what tools were used in missing person investigations. Seventy-one individuals were found thanks to GPS devices on them from July to December. During the same period, drones located three people.   

Studying where police dogs, from jurisdictional police stations, were dispatched totaled 3,230 cases, an increase of about 800 compared to five years ago.

However, people with dementia who live alone are unlikely to use services that would typically be set up by family or caretakers.

“It is necessary for municipal governments to recognize people who have dementia and are not connected to any care service, and to proactively provide them with support,” said Kikuchi.

This sentiment applies nationwide. On a prefectural basis, police received 2,094 reports in Hyogo, 2,016 in Osaka and 1,912 in Saitama.

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