Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood may increase the risk of developing dementia, according to newly published research in , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers at Rush found the association when comparing the social characterization of communities, such as income, education, employment status, and housing, with the risk of developing Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
鈥淢ost studies show associations on an individual level, whereas the Chicago Health and Aging Project study shows an association on the community level,鈥 said , lead investigator and assistant professor of internal medicine.
Understanding that community vulnerabilities lead to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer鈥檚 can provide new avenues for identifying programs and interventions to minimize health risks affecting people, she said.
鈥淒r. Desai鈥檚 paper is one of the seminal pieces of research quantifying the impact of social vulnerabilities on neurological disorders, including Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, on a population and community level鈥 said , director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging.
Researchers examined data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a population-based study. A total of 6,781 participants were enrolled, with an average age of 72, who lived in four areas in Chicago. Of these participants, 2,534 were evaluated for dementia. Two-thirds of the participants were non-Hispanic Black participants. The remaining participants were non-Hispanic white participants. They were surveyed every three years between 1993 to 2012 for at least six years and up to 18 years
At the end of the study, residents of the most disadvantaged neighborhood had the highest rate of Alzheimer鈥檚, 22%, while those living in the least disadvantaged area had the lowest rate, 11%. Similarly, people living in the second-most disadvantaged area had the second-highest Alzheimer鈥檚 rate, 17%, followed by the remaining area, with a rate of 14%.
The study also looked at the annual rate of cognitive decline. Those living in the most disadvantaged areas declined 25% faster than those in the least disadvantaged areas.
鈥淢ore Black participants lived in areas with greater disadvantage, and more white participants lived in areas with lesser disadvantage,鈥 Desai said. 鈥淥nce we accounted for the neighborhood disadvantage factors, we found that there wasn鈥檛 a significant difference between Black and white participants for developing incident Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.鈥
Rajan said the research team has a second article under review at Neurology on Parkinson鈥檚 disease, further underscoring the importance of social vulnerabilities in neurological disorders. 鈥淲e go beyond Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and cognitive decline to Parkinson鈥檚 disease and physical functioning to show the importance of social vulnerabilities on other neurological disorders.鈥
