BackgroundPopulation screening might provide a mechanism to enable early detection of dementia. Yet the potential benefits, harms, or acceptability of such a large-scale intervention are not well understood. We conducted a systematic review of the international scientific literature to examine the attitudes and preferences of the general public, health-care professionals, people with dementia, and their carers towards population screening for dementia.MethodsWe searched 15 bibliographic databases (up to July 12, 2012, no language restriction) using wide-ranging terms related to dementia, screening, case-finding, and attitudes and preferences towards testing in primary or community care settings; genetic screening and biomarkers were excluded. All study designs were included except opinion-based papers. Included papers were doubly quality assessed and thematically analysed with NVivo (version 9). The review adheres to the PRISMA checklist.Findings29 910 articles were identified of which 30 met the inclusion criteria. We identified 17 themes relating to the three phases of the screening process (pre-screen, in-screen, and post-screen), none of which emerged as more of a facilitator than a barrier to the acceptance of dementia screening. Seven themes emerged in relation to the patient, carer, and general population: existing health state, lifestyle and life view, awareness of dementia, role of clinician, communication, benefit, and role of the family. Ten themes emerged in relation to the clinician and health-care professional: the patient's existing health and comorbidities, awareness of dementia, confidence, duration of patient contact, suitability of screening method, cost, disclosure, time, treatment and prognosis, and stigma.InterpretationAs for all screening programmes, screening for dementia raises complex issues around preference and choice for clinicians and the public; the specific factors that promote or reduce screening acceptance the most are unclear. Overall, the level of evidence is low, few large scale studies have been undertaken, but none were conducted in representative samples, all affecting the generalisability of identified themes across health-care contexts. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that population screening for dementia might not be acceptable to either the general public or health-care professionals, and highlight where focused efforts are needed to gain insights into dementia specific issues.FundingThis article presents independent research cofunded by the Alzheimer's Society (project grant 129) and The BUPA Foundation, and supported by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.