There are more younger people living with dementia in the world than previously thought, and that number is probably an underestimate. That is a conclusion of a systematic review of 95 studies that included millions of patients.
Young-onset dementia (YOD) refers to the onset of dementia before the age of 65. The global age-standardized prevalence of YOD was 119 per 100,000 population aged 30 to 64 years, according to an article published Monday in JAMA Neurology. This projects to 3.9 million people in this age bracket worldwide.
“Although this is higher than previously thought, it is probably an underestimation owing to lack of high-quality data,” the article said. “This should raise awareness for policy makers and health care professionals to organize more and better care for this subgroup of individuals with dementia.”
Age-standardized prevalence was lower in the United States than in Europe, similar in women and men, highest in upper-middle-income countries and highest for Alzheimer’s Disease, according to the article.
