Job Loss After Diagnosis of Early-Onset Dementia: A Matched Cohort Study

Early-onset dementia (EOD) affects the employment of patients and family members. To demonstrate how likely employees are to leave their jobs after an EOD diagnosis for themselves or a family member, we conducted a matched cohort study of 143 employees and 77 family members diagnosed with EOD using a claims database. We matched these participants to 5 controls each, and followed them for approximately 600 days. In the employee cohort, patients with EOD were more likely to leave their jobs than were controls (hazard ratio: 2.26). This suggests that healthcare providers should offer employment support to patients just after diagnosis.