Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline
Background: Increasing evidence suggests that stress could be a risk factor for dementia but this might vary by gender. This study investigated whether adverse life events were associated with cognitive decline and dementia in later-life, separately in men and women. Methods: Participants were 12,78...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Affective Disorders Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666915323001312 |
| _version_ | 1797802086958628864 |
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| author | Dinuli Nilaweera Caroline Gurvich Rosanne Freak-Poli Robyn Woods Alice Owen Anne Murray Suzanne G. Orchard Carlene Britt Zimu Wu John McNeil Joanne Ryan |
| author_facet | Dinuli Nilaweera Caroline Gurvich Rosanne Freak-Poli Robyn Woods Alice Owen Anne Murray Suzanne G. Orchard Carlene Britt Zimu Wu John McNeil Joanne Ryan |
| author_sort | Dinuli Nilaweera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Increasing evidence suggests that stress could be a risk factor for dementia but this might vary by gender. This study investigated whether adverse life events were associated with cognitive decline and dementia in later-life, separately in men and women. Methods: Participants were 12,789 community-dwelling Australians aged ≥ 70 years. Ten common adverse events in later-life were self-reported. Cognitive decline was defined as a 1.5 SD decline from participants’ baseline score in tests of global cognition, psychomotor speed, episodic memory, and executive functioning, which were assessed regularly over a maximum of 10.3 years. Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Results: An increased risk of dementia was observed in participants who experienced the death of a spouse/partner (HR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.17 – 2.52) and for individuals who experienced major financial problems (HR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.05 – 2.23). The latter also increased the risk of cognitive decline in men specifically (HR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.10 – 1.86). In contrast, some events for women were associated with a reduced risk of dementia (e.g. close family or friends lost their job/retired (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.40–0.95)). Limitations: Events including major money problems may result from prodromal dementia symptoms, thus reverse causation needs to be considered. Conclusions: Adverse life events may influence dementia risk in older adults, but associations vary depending on the nature of the event, and across genders. These findings support the need for early interventions in older people who have experienced adversities, particularly for the death of a loved one. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:00:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f86f1737fdb4938a4e5b26408deb8f2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-9153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:00:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Affective Disorders Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f86f1737fdb4938a4e5b26408deb8f22023-06-17T05:21:31ZengElsevierJournal of Affective Disorders Reports2666-91532023-07-0113100592Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive declineDinuli Nilaweera0Caroline Gurvich1Rosanne Freak-Poli2Robyn Woods3Alice Owen4Anne Murray5Suzanne G. Orchard6Carlene Britt7Zimu Wu8John McNeil9Joanne Ryan10School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaCentral Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaBerman Centre for Outcomes and Clinical Research, Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute, Minneapolis, USASchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, AustraliaSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Level 4, 553St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia; Corresponding author.Background: Increasing evidence suggests that stress could be a risk factor for dementia but this might vary by gender. This study investigated whether adverse life events were associated with cognitive decline and dementia in later-life, separately in men and women. Methods: Participants were 12,789 community-dwelling Australians aged ≥ 70 years. Ten common adverse events in later-life were self-reported. Cognitive decline was defined as a 1.5 SD decline from participants’ baseline score in tests of global cognition, psychomotor speed, episodic memory, and executive functioning, which were assessed regularly over a maximum of 10.3 years. Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Results: An increased risk of dementia was observed in participants who experienced the death of a spouse/partner (HR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.17 – 2.52) and for individuals who experienced major financial problems (HR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.05 – 2.23). The latter also increased the risk of cognitive decline in men specifically (HR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.10 – 1.86). In contrast, some events for women were associated with a reduced risk of dementia (e.g. close family or friends lost their job/retired (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.40–0.95)). Limitations: Events including major money problems may result from prodromal dementia symptoms, thus reverse causation needs to be considered. Conclusions: Adverse life events may influence dementia risk in older adults, but associations vary depending on the nature of the event, and across genders. These findings support the need for early interventions in older people who have experienced adversities, particularly for the death of a loved one.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666915323001312StressOlderLater-lifeBereavementCognitionDementia |
| spellingShingle | Dinuli Nilaweera Caroline Gurvich Rosanne Freak-Poli Robyn Woods Alice Owen Anne Murray Suzanne G. Orchard Carlene Britt Zimu Wu John McNeil Joanne Ryan Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline Journal of Affective Disorders Reports Stress Older Later-life Bereavement Cognition Dementia |
| title | Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline |
| title_full | Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline |
| title_fullStr | Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline |
| title_short | Adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline |
| title_sort | adverse events in older adults and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline |
| topic | Stress Older Later-life Bereavement Cognition Dementia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666915323001312 |
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