Watch Out! Your Dementia Risk Starts Where You Live

Disadvantaged neighborhood can steal your memory, warn experts. People in disadvantaged neighborhoods may have a higher risk of developing dementia than those in better-off areas, according to a new study.

The findings of the study are published in the Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The Social Vulnerability Index and Incidence of Alzheimer Disease in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults

Go to source).

Neighborhood status was determined by factors such as income, employment, education and disability.

Advertisement

Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Increase the Risk of Dementia

“Our findings show that the community in which you live influences your risk of developing dementia,” said study author Pankaja Desai, Ph.D., of Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. “Most studies of risk factors for Alzheimer's disease focus on the individual level, not the community level. Of course, intervening at the community level is challenging, but prioritizing disadvantaged communities may be an effective way to mobilize resources for older adults and provide avenues for reducing the risk of dementia for the overall community.”

The study involved 6,781 people with an average age of 72 living in four communities in Chicago. Tests of thinking and memory skills were given at the beginning of the study and every three years for at least six years of follow-up. A group of 2,534 people were evaluated for dementia. A total of 66% of the study group were Black participants and the rest were white participants.

Researchers looked at U.S. Census tracts of the four neighborhoods based on amount of disadvantage. A U.S. Census tract is a small area within a county.

Advertisement

Disadvantaged Neighborhoods: Alzheimer’s Hotspot

By the end of the study, 11% of the people in the tracts with the least disadvantage had developed Alzheimer’s disease, compared to 14% in the tracts with the next lowest disadvantage, 17% in the tracts with next-to-highest amount of disadvantage and 22% in the tracts with the highest amount of disadvantage.

Once researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect the risk of dementia, such as age, sex and education, they found that people in the tracts with the most disadvantage were more than twice as likely to develop dementia as those in the tracts with the least disadvantage.

Advertisement

Dementia Disparity: Why Some Communities Face Greater Risk

“More Black participants lived in areas with greater disadvantage and more white participants lived in areas with lesser disadvantage. Once we took neighborhood disadvantage factors into account, there was no longer a significant difference between Black and white people in their risk of developing Alzheimer’s,” Desai said.

The study also looked at the annual rate of decline in scores on tests of thinking and memory skills. The scores of people in the tracts with the most disadvantage declined about 25% faster than those of people in the tracts with the least disadvantage.

A limitation of the study was that participants all lived in Chicago neighborhoods, so the results may not apply to other populations.

Reference:

1. The Social Vulnerability Index and Incidence of Alzheimer Disease in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults - (https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213464)

Source-American Academy of Neurology