Simple Tool Shows Life Expectancy After Dementia Diagnosis

A study in Neurology detailed a simple tool developed by Swedish and Dutch researchers that predicts the life expectancy of a person with dementia, reports EurekAlert . The researchers monitored more than 50,000 people older than 65 who were diagnosed with dementia and registered in the Swedish Dementia Registry between 2007 and 2015. By 2016, 20,000 subjects had died, on average after a median time of 4.8 years following diagnosis. Analysis yielded two schematic tables: one table is for primary care doctors that produces a prognosis according to sex, age, cognitive ability, and comorbidity; the other is for specialist clinics and also accounts for the specific subtype of dementia. With this tool, doctors can place an individual case in the schematic table to indicate the likelihood of a person's death within three years of diagnosis. The tool is designed give doctors and caregivers a better understanding of who is in urgent need of a care plan and who may benefit from additional monitoring. Also intended is helping doctors and other care providers to engage in a dialogue with beneficiaries about their disease and the mortality risk.