Clinical profile of early-onset dementia from a geriatric clinic in South India

Background: Early-onset dementia (EOD) defined as dementia with clinical onset before the age of 65 years, has estimated proportion ranging up to 45.3%. Although EOD leads to severe psychosocial consequences that affect people in their latter part of working age, the literature from India is limited. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the profile of patients with EOD attending Geriatric Clinic and Services, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methodology: All records of patients attending the Geriatric Clinic and Services, diagnosed with EOD between January 2017 and June 2018 with their details pertaining to sociodemographic, clinical, risk factors, and behavioral problems were examined. Results: Of the 320 patients with cognitive complaints seen during the period of 18 months, 108 (33.75%) patients had a diagnosis of EOD. The mean age at onset of illness was 55.38 (Standard deviation - 6.53) years (range - 34–65 years). Of these 58 (53.6%) patients found to have Alzheimer's dementia (AD), 31 (28.7%) have fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), 6 (5.5%) have vascular dementia (VaD), 3 (2.7%) patients have Parkinson's disease-related dementia, and 6 (5.5%) have unspecified dementia. Discussion: During the 18 months, the EOD patients constituted one-third of all dementia patients visiting Geriatric Clinic. Degenerative etiology was the main diagnostic cluster. The most common type was AD, similar to senile type of dementia, was followed by FTD and VaD. The study showed a delay of 3.18 years in seeking consultation. Conclusion: EODs seems to have higher degenerative etiology and with higher associated behavioral and psychological symptoms. There is a need for setting up specialized memory clinics.