Queen's University Belfast

Academic Institute

Bernadette McGuinness

E028

People with early onset dementia account for 5% of all people with dementia. Early onset dementia, also known as young-onset dementia, concerns dementia in people less than 65 years old. In 2015, there were 42000 people with early onset dementia in the United Kingdom, with over 1140 of them living in Northern Ireland (Alzheimer’s Society, 2015; Alzheimer’s Society & Marie Curie, 2015). Research exploring the causes of early onset dementia has demonstrated that genetic factors are a cause for less than 1% of all cases (Tellechea et al., 2017). More frequent causes include Alzheimer’s disease, vascular diseases, Huntington’s disease, traumatic brain injury, brain tumour, HIV, chronic alcoholism and chronic drug abuse (McMurtray, Clark, Christine, & Mendez, 2006; Werner, Stein-Shvachman, & Korczyn, 2009). Another risk factor for early onset dementia is diabetes (Zilkens, Davis, Spilsbury, Semmens, & Bruce, 2013). Research has also explored mortality rates and causes of death in people with early onset dementia. Dementia experts highlight the need to update dementia and healthcare services to cover the needs of people with early onset dementia (Alzheimer’s Society & Marie Curie, 2015) since the existing specialist services target mainly people with late onset dementia. Therefore, the present study aims to explore comorbidities in people with early onset dementia in Northern Ireland, as well as mortality rates, causes of death and differences in drug treatments in order to inform current practices in dementia care.

The increasing number of people with early onset dementia in Northern Ireland will have a significant effect for the healthcare system because dementia services need to cover the needs not only of people with late onset dementia, but also for people with early onset dementia. By assessing comorbidities related to early onset dementia, we aim to update current practices and policies in dementia healthcare systems. For instance, Admissions and Dischargest research has suggested that people with early onset dementia have different comorbidities than late onset dementia, such as alcohol and drug abuse. If results are similar in Northern Ireland, then services need to be prepared to cover the special needs of people with early onset dementia. In this way, it is possible to improve services for people with early onset dementia and their informal caregivers, and to improve knowledge for health and social care professionals about the needs of people with early onset dementia. This study is part of a larger project on Dementia Analytics funded by the Executive Office, the Department of Health and Atlantic Philanthropies, and aims to improve our understanding of dementia in Northern Ireland.

25/05/2018

TRE