Kusoro, Olubunmi;
Roche, Moïse;
Del Pino Casado, Rafael;
Leung, Phuong;
Orgeta, Vasiliki;
(2025)
Time to diagnosis in dementia: A systematic review with meta-analysis.
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
, 40
(7)
, Article e70129. 10.1002/gps.70129.
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Abstract
Timely dementia diagnosis is a global priority, reflected in most national and regional policies and plans. Nevertheless, there are currently no robust estimates of the average time to diagnosis (TTD) and factors influencing diagnostic intervals. This article presents the first systematic review of quantitative studies on TTD in dementia and the factors associated with its duration. We systematically searched EMBASE, Psych INFO, MEDLINE, and CINAHL databases for relevant studies published up to December 2024. We defined TTD as the interval between symptom onset (rated by family carers or patients using interviews or medical records) to final diagnosis. Risk of bias was assessed using the Reporting studies on time to diagnosis tool. We included 13 studies reporting data on 30,257 participants, with age at onset ranging between 54 and 93 years. Meta-analysis pooling 10 studies showed that average mean TTD across all types of dementia was 3.5 years [confidence interval (CI): 2.7–4.3; moderate quality evidence]. Analyses of six studies showed that TTD in young onset dementia was 4.1 years (CI: 3.4–4.9; moderate quality evidence). Although the factors influencing TTD were inconsistent, a younger age at onset and having frontotemporal dementia were consistently associated with a longer interval to diagnosis. TTD in dementia remains long, and specific healthcare strategies are urgently needed to improve it. Increasing the evidence base and developing interventions to reduce TTD should be a future research priority. Specialist services are likely to be key in improving TTD in young-onset dementia.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Time to diagnosis in dementia: A systematic review with meta-analysis |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1002/gps.70129 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.70129 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry© 2025 The Author(s). International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Alzheimer's disease, dementia diagnosis, symptoms time to diagnosis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry > Mental Health of Older People |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10211740 |
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