Cross-sectional analysis of variation in diagnosis of Lewy body dementia in three English regions: data from the DETERMIND programme.
Higher rates of Lewy body dementia diagnosis are associated with North East England.
Cross-sectional analysis of variation in diagnosis of Lewy body dementia in three English regions: data from the DETERMIND programme.
We aimed to examine regional differences in the relationship between core clinical features assessed using the Improving the DIAgnosis and Management Of Neurodegenerative Dementias of Lewy body type in the NHS (DIAMOND-Lewy) dementia with Lewy bodies (dementia with Lewy bodies) Assessment Toolkit and memory service diagnoses of Lewy body dementia (lewy body dementia).
935 individuals with a new memory service diagnosis of dementia enrolled in the DETERMinants of quality of life, care and costs, and consequences of INequalities in people with Dementia and their carers (DETERMIND) programme.
Risk of Lewy body dementia diagnosis was 1.72 times higher in North East England.
All core clinical features of dementia with Lewy bodies were associated with lewy body dementia diagnosis in North East England, whereas visual hallucinations were the most influential diagnostic feature in London and the South East (RR=3.18 (2.29-4.02)).
Regional differences in lewy body dementia diagnosis in UK memory services appear to reflect different rates of recognition of specific lewy body dementia clinical features.
Routinely using a standardised dementia with Lewy bodies Assessment Toolkit and improving awareness of non-hallucination features in lewy body dementia could help to address this disparity.