2026/06/05 by Mukish Yelanchezian, Etuini Ma’u, Bede Oulghan +4 · 1 voice
Medicine · #Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research #Acute Ischemic Stroke Management #Epilepsy research and treatment
paper · pdf · doi:10.65104/001c.162254
openalex publication_date 2026/06/05 · openalex created_date 2026/06/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Background Aotearoa New Zealand’s Pacific population represents one of the largest diasporas globally, yet experiences a disproportionate burden of dementia– with prevalence rates nearly double that observed in New Zealand (NZ) European populations. Furthermore, the onset is often significantly earlier, compromising opportunities for timely diagnosis and intervention. Automated CT-based segmentation tools, such as CTseg, hold significant promise for identifying undetected dementia in Pacific peoples. Objective We aimed to rigorously evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CTseg-derived volumetric markers—specifically total brain volume and hippocampal volume—for detecting dementia in Pacific patients receiving care in NZ memory services. Methods De-identified health and imaging data were analyzed from 204 older Pacific patients living in NZ. Logistic regression models adjusted for age and total intracranial volume (TIV) were used to estimate diagnostic accuracy metrics using Youden index, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results The diagnostic accuracy of CTseg-derived total brain volume was moderate with an AUC of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.72-0.85), sensitivity of 66.9% (95% CI: 58.3%-74.5%), and specificity of 79.2% (95% CI: 68.9%-74.5%). For hippocampal volume, the AUC was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.68-0.82), sensitivity 55.9% (95% CI: 47.2%-64.2%), and specificity 83.1% (95% CI: 73.2%-89.9%). Discussion CTseg produced volumetric estimates in a sample of Pacific Island patients that were comparable to those previously reported for a sample of European patients from a real-world memory service. Accessibility and scalability suggest potential utility for CT-based dementia detection across diverse NZ populations, facilitating equitable access to timely diagnosis and care.