Table 1. Clinical characteristics of the groups according to time to specialist assessment.
| Characteristic |
|
Time to assessment | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Demographics Age (years), mean±SD | 72.4±10 | 71.1±10.7 | 71.7±10.4 | 0.712 |
| Female sex, n (%) | 132 (56.9) | 27 (54) | 105 (57.7) | 0.747 |
| Education (years), mean±SD | 5.2±3.9 | 5.6±3.8 | 5.3±4.1 | 0.969 |
| Diagnosis, n (%) | 0.031 | |||
| Alzheimer’s disease dementia | 92 (44.7) | 12 (27.3) | 80 (49.4) | |
| Vascular dementia | 47 (22.8) | 13 (29.5) | 34 (21) | |
| Other types, n (%)* | 67 (32.5) | 19 (43.2) | 48 (29.6) | |
| Medical history | ||||
| TBI, n (%) | 36 (16.6) | 10 (20.4) | 26 (15.5) | 0.512 |
| Alcohol use, n (%) | 63 (29) | 20 (40.8) | 43 (25.6) | 0.049 |
| Tobacco use, n (%) | 96 (43.6) | 27 (55,1) | 69 (40.4) | 0.074 |
| Family history, n (%) | 64 (31.1) | 13 (28.3) | 51 (31.9) | 0.720 |
| Number of CV risk factors, mean±SD | 1.2±1.1 | 1.5±1.2 | 1.2±1.1 | 0.410 |
| Any neurological comorbidity, n (%) | 0.1±0.4 | 0.21±0.4 | 0.1±0.4 | 0.885 |
| Psychiatric comorbidity, n (%) | 81 (37.7) | 22 (44.9) | 59 (35.5) | 0.245 |
| MMSE, mean±SD | 15.9±6.8 | 20±6.7 | 17.8±7.3 | 0.890 |
| GDS, mean±SD | 5.37±3.6 | 6.6±4.2 | 5.9±4 | 0.247 |
| Age at onset (years), mean±SD | 68.9±10.9 | 67.2±10.8 | 66.5±11.5 | 0.962 |
| Insidious onset, n (%) | 151 (70.9) | 18 (37.5) | 133 (80.6) | <0.001 |
| Personality changes, n (%) | 28 (13.6) | 13 (29.5) | 15 (9,3) | 0.001 |
| Behavior changes, n (%) | 44 (21.4) | 15 (34.1) | 29 (17.9) | 0.024 |
| Visual hallucinations, n (%) | 20 (9.7) | 10 (22.7) | 10 (6.2) | 0.003 |
| Slow progression, n (%) | 132 (64.1) | 17 (38.6) | 115 (71) | <0.001 |
| Medication, n (%) | ||||
| AChE | 31 (12.6) | 4 (8) | 27 (13.8) | 0.287 |
| Benzodiazepines | 25 (10.2) | 8 (16) | 17 (8.7) | 0.186 |
| Antipsychotics | 58 (23.7) | 19 (38) | 39 (20) | 0.010 |
| Antidepressants | 79 (32.2) | 19 (38) | 60 (30.8) | 0.397 |
SD: standard deviation; TBI: traumatic brain injury; CV: cardiovascular; MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination; GDS: Geriatric Depression Scale; AChE: anticholinesterase medications. *Lewy body dementia, behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, mixed dementia, primary progressive aphasias, Parkinson’s disease dementia, not specified.