A recent JAMA Network Open study investigates whether socioeconomic status transitions throughout an individual’s lifespan impact their risk of dementia. Study: Socioeconomic Status Transition Throughout Life and Risk of Dementia . Image Credit: Toa55 / Shutterstock.
com Dementia, which is an umbrella term used to describe the severely impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions, comprises various conditions, the most common of which include Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Several factors have been shown to increase the risk of dementia, some of which include smoking, exposure to air pollution, alcohol use, and low socioeconomic status (SES). Previous studies have identified several SES components, such as limited education, lower childhood SES, and lower household income in adulthood, that increase the risk of dementia onset.
Thus, it is crucial to understand the association between social mobility and healthy longevity. To date, few studies have evaluated the effect of changing SES throughout an individual’s life on the risk of dementia. The current study used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) cohort to determine the association of SES classification with dementia incidence and dementia-free periods during an individual’s lifetime.
Individuals from 31 Japanese regions were recruited to the JAGES cohort between August 2010 and December 2016. All study participants were 65 or older, not diagnosed with dementia, and not registered for long.
