People diagnosed with dementia under the age of 65 have a near threefold increased risk of suicide than those without the neurodegenerative condition, a population-based study shows.

The likelihood of suicide was higher still — sevenfold — among under-65s in the first three months of diagnosis, according to findings in the UK case-control study of 600,000 patients older than 15.

The authors said the study results highlighted the importance of concurrent suicide risk assessment in this patient group, both within specialist dementia services and primary care.

In their analysis of deaths recorded from 2001-2019, the University of Nottingham–led team explored this link using data from 14,500 patients who had died by suicide — including 95 with dementia — and 580,000 controls with other causes of death.