The role of educational attainment and quality in U.S. regional variation in prevalence of dementia and CIND.

ABSTRACT: There are striking disparities in dementia prevalence across regions of the U.S. Education is one of the most important risk factors for dementia. Level and quality of education varied geographically for older cohorts of U.S. adults, potentially contributing to regional differences in dementia prevalence. This study links historical state education quality data to respondents ages 65 and older in the Health and Retirement Study to determine the extent to which geographic disparities in dementia and cognitive impairment with no dementia (CIND) can be attributed to state-level measures of education quality. Older adults educated in states with better resourced education systems had lower prevalence of dementia (Relative risk ratio (RRR): 0.81; CI: 0.75, 0.87) and CIND (RRR: 0.89; CI: 0.84, 0

SUBMITTER: Ailshire JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12445459 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature