In The Year Before Being Diagnosed With Dementia, People Struggle With Paying Bills On Time

Before being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD), many older adults have problems paying bills on time, and their credit scores decline as a result. Credit card delinquencies began increasing more than five years prior to diagnosis. Mortgage delinquencies began rising three years before diagnosis. During the year before ADRD diagnosis, 17.2% older adults were likely to be delinquent on their mortgage payments, and 34.3% were likely to be delinquent on their credit card bills.

In the three to five years before diagnosis, credit scores are on average 1 to 2 points lower than baseline . . .