Risk Factors for Dementia
CFAS investigated a number of potential risk factors for dementia.
Data on these risk factors was collected at the first interviews with participants (baseline). Any association with the development of dementia in the population was analysed after 2 years and 6 years. (a nested case-control analysis of a population-based cohort study)
Findings
- The study found that female sex and particularly increasing age were more strongly associated with dementia
- More years of education were associated with lower levels of dementia. (Ptrend = 0.02)
- Poor self-perceived health increased the risk for incident dementia
- Alcohol and smoking (never, past and current) were neither strongly protective nor predictive.
- Stroke was strongly related to incident dementia as was Parkinson’s disease
- Exposure to general anaesthesia (GA) was inversely associated with dementia development with a trend with increasing GA exposure; P = 0.003.
| An odds ratio (OR) of 1 implies that the event is equally likely in both groups. An odds ratio greater than one implies that the event is more likely in the first group. An odds ratio less than one implies that the event is less likely in the first group. |
Table 1 Association of selected risk factors with incident dementia
| Age 90years + versus 65–69 years |
OR = 25.6, (95% CI) = 11.6–56.9 |
Sex women versus men |
OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1–2.4 |
Perceived Health poor versus good |
OR = 3.9, 95% CI = 2.2–6.9 |
Stroke versus no stroke |
OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.1–4.2 |
Parkinson’s disease versus absent |
OR = 3.5, 95% CI = 1.3–9.3 |
General anaesthesia versus not had |
OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4–0.9 |
Conclusion: in this large multicentre and long-term population-based study, some well-known risk factors for dementia, of vascular and Alzheimer’s type, are confirmed but not others.
The association of increasing age with the development of dementia is several magnitudes greater than the other factors in the study (OR of 25.6). Ageing of populations is likely to result in an increase in the number of people dying with dementia even in the presence of preventative programmes.
The association between self-perceived health—a robust predictor of later health outcomes—and incident dementia warrants further study.
Reference
MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Study, Agustin G. Yip, Carol Brayne, and Fiona E. Matthews. Risk factors for incident dementia in England and Wale: The Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study. A population-based nested case-control study.
Age and Ageing Advance Access published on January 13, 2006
Age Ageing 2006 35: 154-160; doi:10.1093/ageing/afj030
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