Dementia Patients Are Now Living Longer
Older adults with dementia are living longer in many regions, reflecting better care and earlier diagnosis.
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
Older adults diagnosed with dementia are now living longer than in the early 2000s, according to a multinational study led by a researcher at the University of Waterloo. The research reviewed anonymized health records from more than 1.2 million individuals over the age of 60 between 2000 and 2018, drawn from 8 jurisdictions with available data.
In five of these regions – including Ontario, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong – a statistically significant decrease in mortality risk was found after a dementia diagnosis. These areas represent 84% of the total population in the study. The observed improvements in survival may reflect changes in dementia care, earlier diagnosis and improvements in symptom management strategies. The study used data from hospital records to mark the first recorded diagnosis of dementia.
“Dementia is a global public health priority. Understanding how survival among people living with dementia varies over time and across health systems can help policy makers assess its real-world impact on health and social care services.”
Dr. Hao Luo.
Regional differences in mortality trends
Only New Zealand showed a consistent increase in mortality risk during the latter part of the study period, particularly between 2014 and 2018. The authors suggest that this change may relate to a policy shift encouraging general practitioners to take over the management of uncomplicated dementia cases.
“We later found that this coincided with a national effort to shift the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated dementia to primary care to free up specialist services. With greater involvement of primary care, people living with dementia are more likely to present to hospitals at a more advanced stage of the disease, leading to a higher risk of mortality following the first hospital record of dementia diagnosis.”
Dr. Hao Luo.
Findings from Germany and Finland were inconclusive. Both countries were included among the eight studied but did not show statistically significant trends during the study period. Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, Finland and Germany have implemented or are developing national dementia strategies.
Future work will examine the role of comorbidities
The research team used a standardized approach to compare mortality trends across health systems. However, the current study did not account for comorbidities – other chronic conditions that may affect health outcomes – which may influence survival rates. The team plans to explore the impact of these variables in future research.
Comorbidities
Comorbidities refer to the presence of one or more health conditions occurring alongside a primary disease.
Understanding regional differences in outcomes following a dementia diagnosis may help governments allocate resources and support policy development. It may also help inform planning and decision-making for patients, families and clinicians involved in dementia care.
Reference: Luo H, Koponen M, Roethlein C, et al. A multinational cohort study of trends in survival following dementia diagnosis. Commun Med. 2025;5(1). doi: 10.1038/s43856-025-00923-6
This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.
This content includes text that has been generated with the assistance of AI. Technology Networks' AI policy can be found here.
