New Delhi, Jan 9 (NationPress) A recent study has shown that dementia shortens life expectancy by approximately two years for individuals diagnosed at age 85, 3-4 years for diagnoses made at age 80, and up to 13 years for those diagnosed at age 65.
A comprehensive review of the most recent evidence published in The BMJ (British Medical Journal) indicates that the average life expectancy of individuals diagnosed with dementia falls between 9 years at age 60 to 4.5 years at age 85 for women and from 6.5 years to just over 2 years for men.
Survival rates were found to be approximately 1.4 years longer among Asian populations and 1.4 years longer for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease in comparison to those with other forms of dementia.
Each year, around 10 million people globally receive a dementia diagnosis, though survival predictions can differ significantly.
To gain a clearer picture, researchers from the Netherlands aimed to evaluate the prognosis for individuals diagnosed with dementia, focusing on both remaining life expectancy and the timeline for nursing home admission.
Their analysis was based on 261 studies conducted between 1984 and 2024 (with 235 studies on survival and 79 studies on nursing home admission), encompassing more than 5 million individuals with dementia (average age 79, with 63 percent being women).
The research revealed that the average duration before nursing home admission was just over 3 years, with 13 percent of individuals being admitted in the first year post-diagnosis, rising to a third (35 percent) by three years and exceeding half (57 percent) by five years.
However, the authors emphasized that these are observational findings.
“Future research on personalized prognosis should ideally involve patients at the time of diagnosis, considering personal factors, social circumstances, disease stage, and comorbidities, while evaluating relevant functional outcome measures beyond mere survival,” they stated.
The authors stressed that to improve future healthcare services and enhance the quality of life for individuals with dementia and their families, it is vital to strive for more accurate, context-sensitive insights.
