Occupational attainment influences survival in autopsy-confirmed frontotemporal degeneration.

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of occupational attainment and education on survival in autopsy-confirmed cases of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer disease (AD). METHODS We performed a retrospective chart review of 83 demographically matched, autopsy-confirmed FTLD (n = 34) and AD (n = 49) cases. Each patient's primary occupation was classified and ranked. Level of education was recorded in years. Survival was defined as time from symptom onset until death. Linear regression was used to test for associations among occupational attainment, education, and patient survival. RESULTS Median survival was 81 months for FTLD and 95 months for AD. Years of education and occupational attainment were similar for both groups. We found that higher occupational attainment was associated with longer survival in FTLD but not AD. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that higher occupational attainment is associated with longer survival in autopsy-confirmed FTLD. The identification of protective factors associated with FTLD survival has important implications for estimates of prognosis and longitudinal studies such as treatment trials.