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Association of life course adiposity with risk of incident dementia: a prospective cohort study of 322,336 participants
Deng YT, Li YZ, Huang SY, Ou YN, Zhang W, Chen SD, Zhang YR, Yang L et al.. Molecular psychiatry, 2022-05-10
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Cohort studies report inconsistent associations between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause incident dementia. Furthermore, evidence on fat distribution and body composition measures are scarce and few studies estimated the association between early life adiposity and dementia risk. Here, we included 322,336 participants from UK biobank to investigate the longitudinal association between life course adiposity and risk of all-cause incident dementia and to explore the underlying mechanisms driven by metabolites, inflammatory cells and brain structures.
Key findings
- Furthermore, evidence on fat distribution and body composition measures are scarce and few studies estimated the association between early life adiposity and dementia risk.
- Here, we included 322,336 participants from UK biobank to investigate the longitudinal association between life course adiposity and risk of all-cause incident dementia and to explore the underlying mechanisms driven by metabolites, inflammatory cells and brain structures.
- Among the 322,336 individuals (mean (SD) age, 62.24 (5.41) years; 53.9% women) in the study, during a median 8.74 years of follow-up, 5083 all-cause incident dementia events occurred.
- The risk of dementia was 22% higher with plumper childhood body size (p < 0.001).
Why it matters
This study investigated the link between body weight and fat measures across life and the risk of dementia in UK Biobank participants. It also explored possible mechanisms involving metabolites, inflammatory cells, and brain structures.
Study details
- Study designcohort study
- Participants322,336
- Effect size53.9%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 65/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Molecular psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Molecular Psychiatry: journal h-index 318 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A cohort study following people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 322,336 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 45 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.5 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 40 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Jin‐Tai Yu: h-index 39 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Oxford: institution h-index 2,205 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 35538193) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 65 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Deng, Y. T., Li, Y. Z., Huang, S. Y., Ou, Y. N., Zhang, W., Chen, S. D., et al. (2022). Association of life course adiposity with risk of incident dementia: a prospective cohort study of 322,336 participants. Molecular psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01604-9
Vancouver
Deng YT, Li YZ, Huang SY, Ou YN, Zhang W, Chen SD, et al. Association of life course adiposity with risk of incident dementia: a prospective cohort study of 322,336 participants. Molecular psychiatry. 2022. doi:10.1038/s41380-022-01604-9. PMID: 35538193.
BibTeX
@article{deng2022-35538193,
author = {Deng, Y. T. and Li, Y. Z. and Huang, S. Y. and Ou, Y. N. and Zhang, W. and Chen, S. D. and Zhang, Y. R. and Yang, L. and others},
title = {{Association of life course adiposity with risk of incident dementia: a prospective cohort study of 322,336 participants}},
journal = {Molecular psychiatry},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1038/s41380-022-01604-9},
pmid = {35538193},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01604-9}
}
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