Poster: Early onset dementia in Modena: preliminary epidemiologic data
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 16 March 2017 12:00
Background and Aim
Aims of the study. Early onset dementia (EOD), defined as onset of dementia <65 years, has a significant social impact compared to the more common late onset dementia (LOD). EOD epidemiologic data in Italy are scarce, and international estimates of prevalence (age 45-65) are considerably variable, ranging between 15.1 and 153/100,000. We present preliminary retrospective data from an ongoing study aimed at establishing EOD epidemiology in a Northern Italy community (Modena province, around 700,000 inhabitants), using information from the dementia care service.
Materials
We retrospectively recruited all patients residing in Modena province referred to the Baggiovara Hospital Neurologic Clinic CDCD (Centro disturbi cognitivi e demenze) by family practitioners and geriatricians of Modena province, diagnosed with EOD from 2012 to 2016. EOD was diagnosed in patients <65 years presenting with cognitive/behavioral symptoms after a comprehensive neurological examination by a cognitive neurologist, performing brain MRI, FDG PET scanning and CSF analysis when necessary.
Methods
We collected clinical data such as age at onset, disease severity at time of diagnosis, time delay from onset to diagnosis, and epidemiologic data including residence and occupational status.
Results
We identified 99 patients with an EOD diagnosis from 2012 to 2016. Of these, 45 are males (45.4%). Mean onset age was 58.2 years. Median time from symptoms onset to diagnosis was 2 years. Mean MMSE score at diagnosis was 22.3/30. Thirty six patients were working at time of diagnosis (38.7%) , and had to quit working due to the cognitive impairment. Two patients (2.1%) had young children (<18) at time of diagnosis.
Discussion
Our data show peculiar AD phenotypes in the EOD group compared to LOD, with a higher percentage of non-amnestic presentation compared to the percentages known for the LOD group in the literature. Also, in our EOD group the number of AD with Down syndrome, CAA and leucoencephalopaties cases were probably underestimated due to referral bias. Time between clinical onset and diagnosis needs to be shortened. From a social perspective, EOD has significant impacts on patients and their families: patients are generally forced to leave work, and their children are expected to need psychological support, currently not routinely available.