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Identifying modifiable factors and their joint effect on dementia risk in the UK Biobank
Zhang Y, Chen SD, Deng YT, You J, He XY, Wu XR, Wu BS, Yang L et al.. Nature human behaviour, 2023-04-06
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Previous hypothesis-driven research has identified many risk factors linked to dementia. However, the multiplicity and co-occurrence of risk factors have been underestimated. Here we analysed data of 344,324 participants from the UK Biobank with 15 yr of follow-up data for 210 modifiable risk factors.
Key findings
- However, the multiplicity and co-occurrence of risk factors have been underestimated.
- Here we analysed data of 344,324 participants from the UK Biobank with 15 yr of follow-up data for 210 modifiable risk factors.
- We first conducted an exposure-wide association study and then combined factors associated with dementia to generate composite scores for different domains.
- We then evaluated their joint associations with dementia in a multivariate Cox model.
Why it matters
This UK Biobank analysis examined 210 modifiable risk factors and their joint association with dementia risk over 15 years of follow-up. It identifies risk factors and composite scores, so it does not show that changing them prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Participants344,324
- Effect size16.6%; 14.0%; 13.5%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 59/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Nature human behaviour) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Nature Human Behaviour: journal h-index 180 (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 | 4 / 4 | 344,324 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 | 5 / 7 | Cited 109 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 21.8 citations a year over 5 year(s) since 2023 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 19.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 11 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 106 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 | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 8 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 37024724) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 59 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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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
Zhang, Y., Chen, S. D., Deng, Y. T., You, J., He, X. Y., Wu, X. R., et al. (2023). Identifying modifiable factors and their joint effect on dementia risk in the UK Biobank. Nature human behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01585-x
Vancouver
Zhang Y, Chen SD, Deng YT, You J, He XY, Wu XR, et al. Identifying modifiable factors and their joint effect on dementia risk in the UK Biobank. Nature human behaviour. 2023. doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01585-x. PMID: 37024724.
BibTeX
@article{zhang2023-37024724,
author = {Zhang, Y. and Chen, S. D. and Deng, Y. T. and You, J. and He, X. Y. and Wu, X. R. and Wu, B. S. and Yang, L. and others},
title = {{Identifying modifiable factors and their joint effect on dementia risk in the UK Biobank}},
journal = {Nature human behaviour},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1038/s41562-023-01585-x},
pmid = {37024724},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01585-x}
}
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