Improved Survival Rates for People with Dementia: Global Study Finds

A new multinational study published in Communications Medicine has found that people diagnosed with dementia are living longer than in previous decades, signaling encouraging progress in dementia diagnosis, treatment, and care. The research, led by Dr. Hao Luo from the University of Waterloo, analyzed survival trends among more than 1.2 million people over the age of 60 across eight regions from 2000 to 2018.

Dementia remains a major public health concern worldwide.

The research team assessed hospital data from Ontario, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Finland, Germany, and New Zealand. The study found that in five of those regions including Ontario individuals diagnosed with dementia today have a lower risk of death compared to previous years. These five regions accounted for 84 percent of the study population.

Dr. Luo attributes the improvement to a range of factors: “The increase in survival probability is likely due to progress in dementia prevention and care in recent years, as well as more effective drug treatments and psychosocial interventions tailored to an individual’s needs.”

However, the study also found variation in outcomes. “We were surprised to observe a steady increase in mortality risk in New Zealand between 2014 and 2018,” Luo noted. This trend appears to be linked to a national policy that shifted dementia diagnosis and care from specialists to primary care, potentially resulting in later-stage diagnoses during hospital admissions.

The study’s findings highlight the impact of health system strategies on dementia outcomes.

Reference: Luo, H., Koponen, M., Roethlein, C., Becker, C., Bell, J. S., Beyene, K., ... & Wong, I. C. (2025). A multinational cohort study of trends in survival following dementia diagnosis. Communications medicine, 5(1), 1-10.