Dementia patients live average of four and a half years after diagnosis
People with dementia survive an average of four and a half years after diagnosis, but their life expectancy is also influenced by the patient’s age, sex, and existing disability, according to a new study at bmj.com – the online version of the British Medical Journal.
The researchers said they hope these estimates will be of value to patients, caregivers, service providers, and policy-makers, all of whom are influenced by the factors that determine the length of survival.
The study involved more than 13,000 people aged 65 years and older who were taking part in a population-based study in England and Wales.
Age, sex, and disability before dementia onset all influenced survival rates independently, the researchers said.
There was nearly seven years difference in survival between the youngest and the oldest people with dementia (10.7 years for those aged 65-69 and 3.8 years for those aged 90 or over), but on average, the researchers found that survival time from dementia onset to death was 4.1 years for men and 4.6 years for women.
They said they saw about a three-year reduction in survival between the most and least disabled at onset, suggesting that the frailer individuals are at higher risk, even after age is taken into account.
However, living in the community or in a residential home, marital status, and self-reported health were not associated with survival once other factors were taken into account, the team reported.
