Time to Diagnosis and Its Predictors in Syndromes Associated With Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration.

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry

Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences (IL,DA, VB, JR, VC, IM, AA, BB), University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; Department of Continuity of Care and Frailty (IL, IM, AA, BB), Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale (ASST) Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address:

Published: August 2024

Objectives: Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD) causes a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders with a wide range of clinical features. This might delay time to diagnosis. The aim of the present study is to establish time to diagnosis and its predictors in patients with FTLD-associated syndromes.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Participants: A total of 1029 patients with FTLD-associated syndromes (age: 68 [61-73] years, females: 46%) from 1999 to 2023 were included in the present study.

Measurements: Time to diagnosis was operationalized as the time between symptom onset and the diagnosis of a FTLD-associated syndrome. The associations between time to diagnosis and possible predictors (demographic and clinical variables) were investigated through univariate and multivariate linear models.

Results: Median time to diagnosis was 2 [1-3] years. We observed that younger age at onset (β = -0.03, p <0.001), having worked as a professional rather than as a blue (β = 0.52, p = 0.024) or a white (β = 0.46, p = 0.050) collar, and having progressive supranuclear palsy (p <0.05) or the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (p <0.05) phenotypes were significantly associated with increased time to diagnosis. No significant changes of time to diagnosis have been observed over 20 years.

Conclusions: The identification of predictors of time to diagnosis might improve current diagnostic algorithms, resulting in a timely initiation of symptomatic treatments, early involvement in clinical trials, and more adequate public health policies for patients and their families.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2024.03.002DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

time diagnosis
24
diagnosis predictors
12
frontotemporal lobar
8
lobar degeneration
8
patients ftld-associated
8
time
7
diagnosis
6
predictors syndromes
4
syndromes associated
4
associated frontotemporal
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!