Dementia campaign could lead to over-diagnosis, say experts
Specialists criticise efforts to increase early discovery, saying it could lead to two-thirds of over-80s being diagnosed
The current prevalence of dementia is thought to be 10-30% in people over the age of 80. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA
Two-thirds of people aged 80 or over could be diagnosed with dementiain future because doctors are subjecting patients to needless investigation for and potentially damaging treatment of the disease, experts say.
The specialists in dementia, geriatric medicine and public health claim the growing trend towards older people having their risk of dementia assessed could lead to considerable over-diagnosis.
"The current prevalence of dementia is thought to be 10-30% in people over the age of 80, but the adoption of new diagnostic criteria will result in up to 65% of this age group having Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and up to 23% of non-demented older people being diagnosed with dementia," say the British and Australian experts, writing in the British Medical Journal...........
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