Study Reveals Life Expectancy for Dementia Patients After Diagnosis
A new study highlights how long dementia patients can expect to live post-diagnosis, revealing significant age-related differences.
Dementia, Life Expectancy, Erasmus MC, Netherlands, Alzheimer’s, Nursing Home, UK
Rotterdam: Medical experts have recently taken a deep dive into how long people diagnosed with dementia can expect to live. They looked at data from 235 studies, which is pretty impressive. It turns out that previous estimates on survival rates were all over the place, and not many studies considered how long it takes before patients end up in nursing homes.
The team from Erasmus MC University Medical Centre in the Netherlands found that survival after a dementia diagnosis really depends on age. For instance, a 60-year-old woman might live about nine more years after being diagnosed, while an 85-year-old woman might only have around 4.5 years left. For men, it’s a bit shorter, with life expectancy dropping from 6.5 years to just over two years as they age.
The studies they reviewed spanned from 1984 to 2024 and included over 5.5 million people. They also looked at nursing home admissions, finding that those with Alzheimer’s disease tend to live about 1.4 years longer than those with other types of dementia.
Interestingly, where someone lives can also make a difference. People in Asia are expected to live 1.4 years longer after diagnosis compared to those in Europe or the US. On average, it takes about 3.3 years for patients to be moved to a nursing home after their diagnosis. The study noted that about a third of their remaining life is spent in nursing homes, with more than half moving in within five years.
As the UK’s population ages, the number of dementia cases is expected to rise. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has faced some heat for not setting a firm deadline for creating a National Care Service to help with soaring care costs. Looking ahead, it seems that any major reforms in social care in England might not happen until 2028. Streeting defended his timeline, saying that he needs to work with other political parties because “politics has torpedoed good ideas” before.
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