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Circadian Rest-Activity Rhythms, Delirium Risk, and Progression to Dementia
Gao L, Li P, Gaykova N, Zheng X, Gao C, Lane JM, Saxena R, Scheer FAJL et al.. Annals of neurology, 2023-03-03
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective Delirium is a complex neurocognitive syndrome suspected to be bidirectionally linked to dementia. Circadian rhythm disturbances likely contribute to dementia pathogenesis, but whether these disturbances are related to delirium risk and progression to all-cause dementia is unknown. Methods We analyzed continuous actigraphy data from 53,417 middle-aged or older UK Biobank participants during a median 5 years of follow-up.
Key findings
- Circadian rhythm disturbances likely contribute to dementia pathogenesis, but whether these disturbances are related to delirium risk and progression to all-cause dementia is unknown.
- Methods We analyzed continuous actigraphy data from 53,417 middle-aged or older UK Biobank participants during a median 5 years of follow-up.
- Four measures were used to characterize the 24-hour daily rest-activity rhythms (RARs): normalized amplitude, acrophase representing the peak activity time, interdaily stability, and intradaily variability (IV) for fragmentation of the rhythm.
- Cox proportional hazards models examined whether RARs predicted incident delirium (n = 551) and progression to dementia (n = 61).
Why it matters
This study looked at whether disrupted 24-hour rest-activity rhythms in 53,417 UK Biobank participants were linked to delirium risk and progression to all-cause dementia. It is an observational analysis, so it cannot show that circadian rhythm disturbances cause dementia or that changing them would prevent it.
Study details
- Participants551
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 56/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Annals of Neurology: journal h-index 437 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2023 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 551 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 56 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 11.2 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 49 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Kun Hu: h-index 50 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 36808743) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 56 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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
Gao, L., Li, P., Gaykova, N., Zheng, X., Gao, C., Lane, J. M., et al. (2023). Circadian Rest-Activity Rhythms, Delirium Risk, and Progression to Dementia. Annals of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.26617
Vancouver
Gao L, Li P, Gaykova N, Zheng X, Gao C, Lane JM, et al. Circadian Rest-Activity Rhythms, Delirium Risk, and Progression to Dementia. Annals of neurology. 2023. doi:10.1002/ana.26617. PMID: 36808743.
BibTeX
@article{gao2023-36808743,
author = {Gao, L. and Li, P. and Gaykova, N. and Zheng, X. and Gao, C. and Lane, J. M. and Saxena, R. and Scheer, F. A. J. L. and others},
title = {{Circadian Rest-Activity Rhythms, Delirium Risk, and Progression to Dementia}},
journal = {Annals of neurology},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1002/ana.26617},
pmid = {36808743},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.26617}
}
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