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Greater risk of dementia when spouse has dementia? The Cache County study
Norton MC, Smith KR, Østbye T, Tschanz JT, Corcoran C, Schwartz S, Piercy KW, Rabins PV et al.. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2010-05-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objectives To examine the effects of caring for a spouse with dementia on the caregiver's risk for incident dementia. Design Population-based study of incident dementia in spouses of persons with dementia. Setting Rural county in northern Utah. Participants Two thousand four hundred forty-two subjects (1,221 married couples) aged 65 and older. Measurements Incident dementia was diagnosed in 255 subjects, with onset defined as age when subject met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, criteria for dementia. Cox proportional hazards regression tested the effect of time-dependent exposure to dementia in one's spouse, adjusted for potential confounders. Results A subject whose spouse experienced incident dementia onset had a six times greater risk for incident dementia as subjects whose spouses were dementia free (hazard rate ratio (HRR)=6.0, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.2-16.2, P Conclusion The chronic and often severe stress associated with dementia caregiving may exert substantial risk for the development of dementia in spouse caregivers. Additional (not mutually exclusive) explanations for findings are discussed.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Norton, M. C., Smith, K. R., Østbye, T., Tschanz, J. T., Corcoran, C., Schwartz, S., et al. (2010). Greater risk of dementia when spouse has dementia? The Cache County study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02806.x
Vancouver
Norton MC, Smith KR, Østbye T, Tschanz JT, Corcoran C, Schwartz S, et al. Greater risk of dementia when spouse has dementia? The Cache County study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2010. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02806.x. PMID: 20722820.
BibTeX
@article{norton2010-20722820,
author = {Norton, M. C. and Smith, K. R. and Østbye, T. and Tschanz, J. T. and Corcoran, C. and Schwartz, S. and Piercy, K. W. and Rabins, P. V. and others},
title = {{Greater risk of dementia when spouse has dementia? The Cache County study}},
journal = {Journal of the American Geriatrics Society},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02806.x},
pmid = {20722820},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02806.x}
}
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.
Key findings
- Results A subject whose spouse experienced incident dementia onset had a six times greater risk for incident dementia as subjects whose spouses were dementia free (hazard rate ratio (HRR)=6.0, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.2-16.2, P<.001).
Why it matters
This study found that people whose spouse developed dementia had a six times greater risk of developing dementia themselves. It is observational and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants255
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 49 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 51 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: journal h-index 344 (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 | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 255 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 194 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 10.8 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.4× 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 | 2 / 4 | Cited 45 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | University of Washington: institution h-index 3,540 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20722820) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 49 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 49 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 51 out of 100. |
| Total | 51 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02806.x
- PubMed: 20722820
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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