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61/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 61 out of 100. Disparities

Reviewed as evidence on: Epilepsy / seizures and young-onset (<65) dementia risk 5 studies (what the news said). Being listed means the study bears on the question, not that it agrees with the news.

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Objective To determine the risk of dementia after the development of late-onset epilepsy. Methods We used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort study, which started in 1987 to 1989 with 15,792 mostly Black and White men and women from 4 US communities. We identified late-onset epilepsy (LOE; seizures starting at age 67 or later) from linked Medicare claims data. We used a Cox proportional hazards regression model to evaluate associations between LOE and dementia through 2017 as ascertained from neuropsychological testing, interviews, and hospital discharge surveillance, and we used multinomial logistic regression to assess the risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the subset with full neuropsychological assessments available. We adjusted for demographics and vascular and Alzheimer disease risk factors. Results Of 9,033 ARIC participants with sufficient Medicare coverage data (4,980 [55.1%] female, 1993 [22.1%] Black), 671 met the definition of LOE. Two hundred seventy-nine (41.6%) participants with and 1,408 (16.8%) without LOE developed dementia ( p Interpretation The risk of incident dementia is substantially elevated in individuals with LOE. Further work is needed to explore causes for the increased risk of dementia in this growing population.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Johnson, E. L., Krauss, G. L., Kucharska-Newton, A., Albert, M. S., Brandt, J., Walker, K. A., et al. (2020). Dementia in late-onset epilepsy: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000011080

Vancouver

Johnson EL, Krauss GL, Kucharska-Newton A, Albert MS, Brandt J, Walker KA, et al. Dementia in late-onset epilepsy: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. Neurology. 2020. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000011080. PMID: 33097597.

BibTeX

@article{johnson2020-33097597,
  author  = {Johnson, E. L. and Krauss, G. L. and Kucharska-Newton, A. and Albert, M. S. and Brandt, J. and Walker, K. A. and Yasar, S. and Knopman, D. S. and others},
  title   = {{Dementia in late-onset epilepsy: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study}},
  journal = {Neurology},
  year    = {2020},
  doi     = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000011080},
  pmid    = {33097597},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000011080}
}

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Key findings

Results Of 9,033 ARIC participants with sufficient Medicare coverage data (4,980 [55.1%] female, 1993 [22.1%] Black), 671 met the definition of LOE.
Further work is needed to explore causes for the increased risk of dementia in this growing population.

Why it matters

This cohort study found that people who developed late-onset epilepsy had a substantially higher risk of later developing dementia. It identifies an association only and does not show that treating epilepsy would prevent dementia; further work is needed to explore the causes.

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Study details

Study designcohort study
Effect size55.1%; 22.1%; 41.6%
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 61/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for sample size, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Neurology: journal h-index 525 (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	2 / 5	2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 88 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	11.0 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 6.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 7 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 50 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Rebecca F. Gottesman: h-index 92 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33097597)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	61 / 100	—

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