Marital status and risk of dementia over 18 years: Surprising findings from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Marital status is a potential risk/protective factor for adverse health outcomes. This study tested whether marital status was associated with dementia risk in older adults.

Methods

Participants (N = 24,107; Mean_age = 71.79) were from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. Cox regressions tested the association between baseline marital status and clinically ascertained dementia over up to 18 years of follow-up.

Results

Compared to married participants, widowed (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.73, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.67-0.79), divorced (HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.59-0.73), and never-married participants (HR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.52-0.71) were at lower dementia risk, including for Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. The associations

SUBMITTER: Karakose S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11923573 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature