OBJECTIVES: Early screening and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia can lead to better life planning and care. However, difficulty in diagnosis still exists and contributes to patients being misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed, resulting in a diagnosis late in the disease course. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the literature to explore the potential causes and barriers that lead to under-diagnosis and/or a misdiagnosis of AD and dementia. METHODS: PubMed database was searched to identify studies published from July 2008 to December 2016. The searching criteria included studies about AD and dementia completed on humans, English language, and published between 2008 and 2016. Two reviewers screened the title, abstract and full-text articles against the inclusion criteria, with two additional reviewers examining their results. Publications were excluded if they did not meet those criteria or were duplicate articles. RESULTS: A total of 358 articles were obtained from the literature search. Ninety-five articles were removed as duplicates. After screening, 43 articles were included and 220 original articles were excluded. Results from the articles indicate various barriers to the early diagnosis and misdiagnosis of AD and dementia including provider, caregiver, patient, health-system and diagnostic challenges. Delay or misdiagnosis could result in a poor quality of life for the patient and caregiver, contribute to financial and personal risks, and lead to the progression of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis or detection of AD and dementia potentially reduces the social and economic burden of patients and caregivers. Additionally, it is important to diagnose patients with AD and dementia appropriately in a timely manner to ensure that treatment is initiated. With early detection of AD and dementia, risks associated with more severe cognitive impairment could be avoided. Community resources can be utilized to increase the understanding of early AD diagnosis.