Survival after dementia diagnosis in five racial/ethnic groups

Introduction Information on anticipated survival time after dementia diagnosis among racially/ethnically diverse patients is needed to plan for care and evaluate disparities.Results After dementia diagnosis (n = 59,494), whites had shortest median survival (3.1 years), followed by American Indian/Alaska Natives (3.4 years), African Americans (3.7 years), Latinos (4.1 years), and Asian Americans (4.4 years). Longer postdiagnosis survival among racial/ethnic minorities compared with whites persisted after adjustment for comorbidities. Racial/ethnic mortality inequalities among dementia patients mostly paralleled mortality inequalities among people without dementia.Discussion Survival after dementia diagnosis differs by race/ethnicity, with shortest survival among whites and longest among Asian Americans.