Overview

• A UCL-led meta-analysis of 13 studies covering over 30,000 participants is the first systematic global review of time to dementia diagnosis.
• Patients wait an average of 3.5 years from first symptom awareness to a formal dementia diagnosis, extending to 4.1 years for early-onset cases.
• Younger age at onset and frontotemporal subtypes were linked to the longest diagnostic delays, with Black patients also facing disproportionate wait times.
• Only around 50–65% of dementia cases are diagnosed in high-income countries, suggesting even lower rates in lower-resource settings.
• Researchers advocate public awareness campaigns, clinician training, streamlined referrals and better-resourced memory clinics to accelerate diagnosis.