People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, major study finds

A multinational study has revealed that people diagnosed with dementia are now living longer in many parts of the world. By looking at data from over 1.2 million people aged 60 and older, researchers examined how survival rates after a dementia diagnosis have changed over time across different countries and healthcare systems.

Their work found that in most regions studied, the risk of death has dropped for those diagnosed more recently, suggesting improvements in both early diagnosis and care quality.

The findings come from eight developed regions—Canada (Ontario), the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Finland, Germany and New Zealand—analyzed from 2000 to 2018. Among these, five regions showed a steady decline in mortality rates after diagnosis.

This trend may reflect the success of national dementia strategies, improved healthcare access, and greater public awareness of the condition. But not all regions saw progress. In New Zealand, mortality risk increased in recent years, possibly due to changes in how dementia cases are handled in hospitals.

Dementia affects millions worldwide. It results from various diseases that damage the brain, leading to memory loss, confusion, and trouble with daily activities. Most people who develop dementia are older adults. Globally, more than 57 million people live with dementia today, and nearly 10 million new cases are added each year. Since 2012, dementia has been considered an international public health priority.

As people live longer, healthcare systems must adapt. Countries with aging populations face increasing pressure to manage the rising needs of those living with dementia. High-income countries are working to strengthen their healthcare systems, while many lower- and middle-income countries still need better data to help guide planning and prioritize resources.

Understanding how long people live with dementia is critical. It helps doctors, families, and policymakers plan care, manage resources, and improve the quality of life for those affected.

Survival after a dementia diagnosis varies widely. In earlier studies, people with younger-onset dementia lived between 1.3 and 7.9 years on average, while those with late-onset dementia lived between 1.8 and 7.2 years. Some researchers noticed that survival seemed to improve after 1997, the year cholinesterase inhibitors—a class of dementia medications—became more widely available. These early findings hinted that medical advances might be slowly increasing life expectancy for those with dementia.

Despite no current cure for dementia, major strides have been made in diagnosis and care. Many countries now focus on detecting dementia earlier, offering better support, and training doctors to manage symptoms. Public health strategies have also aimed to reduce risks, improve funding, and deliver tailored care. These efforts likely contribute to the rise in survival observed in recent years.

But it has been difficult to get a clear picture of global trends. Older studies often focused on single countries or used different ways of measuring survival, such as years lived after diagnosis, overall death risk, or age-adjusted data. Some countries, like the United States and Sweden, showed steady mortality rates for years.

Others, like Germany, saw rising death rates—especially among women—over certain periods. In France, survival improved for women but not men. In rural parts of China, dementia deaths rose by 24% from 2006 to 2012. These scattered results created confusion about whether real progress was being made.

To clear up the confusion, researchers took a different approach. They used large sets of electronic medical records (EMR) and administrative data from multiple countries. By using a common method to analyze this data, they reduced the risk of errors caused by different data collection styles or healthcare systems. The team looked at how long people lived after their first recorded dementia diagnosis and compared survival rates by year.

Led by Dr. Hao Luo of the University of Waterloo, the research covered regions where national dementia strategies were in place or being developed. These strategies include goals like raising awareness, boosting early detection, and improving care access. The team found that five regions—Ontario, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—showed a clear drop in the risk of death following a diagnosis. These five regions represented 84% of all people in the study.

“The increase in survival probability is likely due to progress in dementia prevention and care in recent years, as well as more effective drug treatments and psychosocial interventions tailored to an individual’s needs,” said Dr. Luo.

By contrast, survival rates worsened in New Zealand between 2014 and 2018. Researchers believe this may be linked to a national policy that shifted dementia care from specialists to general doctors. While this policy aimed to free up specialists for complex cases, it may have caused some patients to be diagnosed later in the disease, increasing the risk of death after being hospitalized.

Data from Germany and Finland didn’t show a clear trend, possibly due to gaps in reporting or healthcare changes that weren’t captured in the study. Still, most of the regions studied showed real signs of progress.

This large-scale study offers hope and guidance. It suggests that people living with dementia are surviving longer in places where public health strategies and clinical care have improved. But it also highlights areas needing attention. Differences between countries, and even between regions within a country, show that progress isn't uniform.

Dr. Luo pointed out the importance of these findings for everyone involved—patients, families, doctors, and policy leaders. “Knowledge of survival after the diagnosis of dementia is important for people living with dementia and their family members for making informed decisions about the subsequent care arrangement,” she said.

The results also help healthcare systems better estimate how much support they’ll need in the coming years. Knowing how long people are likely to live after diagnosis can shape decisions about everything from hospital staffing to funding for in-home care services.

Looking ahead, Dr. Luo plans to explore how other health problems, known as comorbidities, might affect survival in people with dementia. “One of my future research directions is to understand the patterns of comorbidity and how comorbidities affect survival,” she said. Because the current study used a shared method across countries, some complex factors like comorbidities were not included, but future work may fill in those gaps.

As more data becomes available and more countries adopt national dementia plans, survival is expected to improve further. However, this progress depends on the continued investment in public health systems, research, caregiver support, and early diagnosis efforts. The study stands as one of the largest efforts to understand global survival trends in people living with dementia.

Research findings are available online in the journal Nature Communications Medicine.

Note: The article above provided above by The Brighter Side of News.

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