People diagnosed with early-onset dementia were less productive at work up to 15 years before diagnosis, according to a study published in the journal Jul. 8, 2026. Neurology®Medical Journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The researchers also found that the number of years of lost productivity varies depending on the type of dementia.
Early-onset dementia is when a person under the age of 65 is diagnosed with any type of dementia.
This study does not prove that early-onset dementia reduces productivity over several years, only that there is an association.
Early-onset dementia affects people during their most productive years and is associated with reduced work capacity, increased unemployment, and earlier than planned separation from work. These changes can reduce household income and have broader economic implications. Our study found an association between lower work productivity and early-onset dementia up to 15 years before diagnosis. ”
Eino Solje, MD, PhD, Research Author, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio
The study involved 793 people diagnosed with early-onset dementia at two Finnish hospitals over a 12-year period. 7,926 people without dementia were matched by age and gender. Of the dementia patients, 421 had Alzheimer’s disease, 179 had frontotemporal dementia, 46 had alpha-synucleinopathy, including dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia, and 147 had other forms of dementia, such as vascular cognitive impairment and mixed dementia.
Researchers used national registries to identify each participant’s educational level and other health conditions. They used national tax records to find out participants’ incomes.
To determine productivity losses, researchers calculated the difference in average annual income between people with early-onset dementia and those without dementia. We also took into account other factors that could influence the differences, such as education level and other medical conditions.
The researchers found that people with early-onset dementia had a progressively increasing decline in productivity in the 15 years before diagnosis compared to people without dementia. They found that during the study period, each patient with early-onset dementia lost an average of €74,577 in productivity, or approximately US$86,000.
Looking at different types of dementia, researchers found that the average productivity decline for people with Alzheimer’s disease started six years before diagnosis, for people with frontotemporal dementia it started 11 years before diagnosis, and for people with alpha-synucleinosis, the decline was only evident at the time of diagnosis. For other dementias, average productivity loss was consistently high throughout the year.
“Our study found that productivity losses are significantly large, averaging around €12,000, or around US$13,800, per person per year, and that losses begin 15 years before diagnosis,” Sorje said. “These findings may be partially explained by delays in diagnosis, which may prolong the duration of unrecognized symptoms, highlighting the long-term detrimental socio-economic impact of early-onset dementia.”
A limitation of the study was that it looked at the data retrospectively, so it couldn’t show cause-and-effect relationships.
Solje noted that future research should include neuropsychological tests to track changes in cognition over time, and interventions that can prevent or slow productivity decline should be developed.
The study was funded by Roche Oy, Roche’s Finnish subsidiary.
sauce:
American Academy of Neurology
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