Psychiatric Disorders Before and After Dementia Diagnosis

Little is known about the specific timing and sequence of incident psychiatric comorbidities at different stages of dementia diagnosis.

To examine the temporal risk patterns of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, stress-related disorders, substance use disorders, sleep disorders, somatoform/conversion disorders, and psychotic disorders, among patients with dementia before, at the time of, and after receipt of a diagnosis.

This population-based, nationwide cohort study analyzed data from 796 505 participants obtained from 6 registers between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2017, including the Swedish registry for cognitive/dementia disorders. Patients with dementia were matched on year of birth (±3 years), sex, and region of residence with up to 4 controls. Data were analyzed between March 1, 2023, and August 31, 2023.

Any cause of dementia and dementia subtypes.

Flexible parametric survival models to determine the time-dependent risk of initial diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, from 7 years prior to dementia diagnosis to 10 years after diagnosis. Subgroup analysis was conducted for psychiatric drug use among persons receiving a diagnosis of dementia from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012.

Of 796 505 patients included in the study (mean [SD] age at diagnosis, 80.2 [8.3] years; 448 869 (56.4%) female), 209 245 had dementia, whereas 587 260 did not, across 7 824 616 person-years. The relative risk of psychiatric disorders was consistently higher among patients with dementia compared with control participants and began to increase from 3 years before diagnosis (hazard ratio, [HR], 1.72; 95% CI, 1.67-1.76), peaked during the week after diagnosis (HR, 4.74; 95% CI, 4.21-5.34), and decreased rapidly thereafter. Decreased risk relative to controls was observed from 5 years after diagnosis (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.87-0.98). The results were similar for Alzheimer disease, mixed dementia, vascular dementia and unspecified dementia. Among patients with dementia, markedly elevated use of psychiatric medications was observed in the year leading up to the dementia diagnosis and peaked 6 months after diagnosis. For example, antidepressant use was persistently higher among patients with dementia compared with controls, and the difference increased from 2 years before dementia diagnosis (15.9% vs 7.9%, P < .001), peaked approximately 6 months after dementia diagnosis (29.1% vs 9.7%, P < .001), and then decreased slowly from 3 years after diagnosis but remained higher than controls 5 years after diagnosis (16.4% vs 6.9%, P < .001).

The findings of this cohort study that patients with dementia had markedly increased risks of psychiatric disorders both before and after dementia diagnosis highlight the significance of incorporating psychiatric preventative and management interventions for individuals with dementia across various diagnostic stages.