Home › Research › Lewy body dementia
Fourteen years later: Reviewing the diagnostic criteria for behavioral‐variant frontotemporal dementia
Olivier Piguet, Antonia Jean Clarke, David Foxe, Nga Yan Tse, Claris Teng, James R. Burrell, Sau Chi Cheung, James Carrick et al.. Alzheimer s & Dementia, 2025-08-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
A total of 110 patients were identified. Frequency of diagnostic criteria ranged from 89% (apathy; empathy loss) to 14.5% (dysexecutive profile), and 78 patients met at least four criteria. Mean survival time from symptom onset was 10.4 years and was not affected by the number and combination of core diagnostic criteria (P values ≥ 0.274). Our findings show that the requirements for the cognitive criterion are disproportionately restrictive, which may delay diagnosis and access to relevant treatments and therapies. HIGHLIGHTS: The comparative usefulness of core criteria for frontotemporal dementia diagnosis is unclear. We identified the most common profiles of core features at baseline. Most common feature profiles included apathy and/or empathy loss. Feature profiles were not predictive of survival. Cognitive criterion appears overly restrictive in its current form.
Key findings
- Frequency of diagnostic criteria ranged from 89% (apathy; empathy loss) to 14.5% (dysexecutive profile), and 78 patients met at least four criteria.
- Mean survival time from symptom onset was 10.4 years and was not affected by the number and combination of core diagnostic criteria (P values ≥ 0.274).
- Our findings show that the requirements for the cognitive criterion are disproportionately restrictive, which may delay diagnosis and access to relevant treatments and therapies.
- HIGHLIGHTS: The comparative usefulness of core criteria for frontotemporal dementia diagnosis is unclear.
- We identified the most common profiles of core features at baseline.
Why it matters
Reviewing records of 110 patients, researchers found that the cognitive criterion for diagnosing behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia was met by only 14.5% of patients and appears overly restrictive, which may delay diagnosis and access to treatments. Survival time was not affected by the number or combination of core diagnostic criteria.
Study details
- Participants110
- Effect size14.5%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer s & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 110 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 10 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 10 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Rebekah M. Ahmed: h-index 37 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Sydney: institution h-index 1,466 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40820228) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Piguet, O., Clarke, A. J., Foxe, D., Tse, N. Y., Teng, C., Burrell, J. R., et al. (2025). Fourteen years later: Reviewing the diagnostic criteria for behavioral‐variant frontotemporal dementia. Alzheimer s & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70604
Vancouver
Piguet O, Clarke AJ, Foxe D, Tse NY, Teng C, Burrell JR, et al. Fourteen years later: Reviewing the diagnostic criteria for behavioral‐variant frontotemporal dementia. Alzheimer s & Dementia. 2025. doi:10.1002/alz.70604. PMID: 40820228.
BibTeX
@article{piguet2025-40820228,
author = {Piguet, Olivier and Clarke, Antonia Jean and Foxe, David and Tse, Nga Yan and Teng, Claris and Burrell, James R. and Cheung, Sau Chi and Carrick, James and others},
title = {{Fourteen years later: Reviewing the diagnostic criteria for behavioral‐variant frontotemporal dementia}},
journal = {Alzheimer s \& Dementia},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/alz.70604},
pmid = {40820228},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70604}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
1 study in the alzhub library lists this one in its references.
Related studies in Lewy body dementia
Also tagged “bodies”
1,017 studies in the library carry the topic tag “bodies”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,017 tagged studies.