title: Occupational attainment influences survival in autopsy-confirmed frontotemporal degeneration.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA. massimol@uphs.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Massimo
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Jarcy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zee
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Sharon X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Corey T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Katya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rascovsky
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Irwin
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolanowski
authors.affiliation: From the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology (L.M., C.T.M., K.R., D.J.I., M.G.), and Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (J.Z., S.X.X.), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and The Pennsylvania State University (L.M., A.K.), College of Nursing, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Murray
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors