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43/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 43 out of 100. Risk factors

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Importance Recent data point to the impact of non-traditional environmental and social factors on Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias (ADRD) mortality. Our study aimed to determine the extent to which antecedent air pollution, social vulnerability, and geospatial features in the environment associate with ADRD mortality. Design This was a cross-sectional study conducted across the mainland United States. County level Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), particulate matter air pollution (PM 2.5 ) were linked to ADRD mortality. Patient Rule Induction Method (PRIM) was used for delineating and characterizing “bumps” or spikes in mortality. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values were used to rank variables by predictivity and association with directional changes in ADRD mortality. Exposures PM 2.5 data was acquired from 1 × 1 km spatial grids using aerosol optical depth from the Atmospheric Analysis Composition Group at Washington University St. Louis. SVI was acquired from the CDC's ATSDR Data, which is a composite index scale that characterizes socio-environmental vulnerability. Google Street View imagery coupled with deep learning computational techniques was used to extract features of neighborhood level environment characteristics from across the United States. Results There was a significant interaction effect between PM 2.5 and SVI on ADRD mortality (β = 31.100, p < 0.001). Two clusters of elevated ADRD mortality were identified: counties with high PM 2.5 and SVI (HH) and with low PM 2.5 and SVI (LL). Analysis of LL subset revealed associations between ADRD mortality and specific SVI subdomains, as well as built environment variables. Geospatial mapping indicated a split in these clusters along northern and southern latitudes, with differences in temperature and sunlight intensity (p < 0.001) rather than urbanization driving the distribution. Conclusions Ambient air pollution interacts with SVI to influence ADRD mortality rates. Our findings support a role for non-traditional factors including elements of the built environment, geographical location, and natural environmental exposures contributing to ADRD mortality.

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APA 7th

Moorthy, S., Dazard, J., Chen, Z., Charak, R., Palanivel, S., Deo, S. V., et al. (2025). Non-traditional socio-environmental and geospatial determinants of Alzheimer's disease-related dementia mortality. The Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179745

Vancouver

Moorthy S, Dazard J, Chen Z, Charak R, Palanivel S, Deo SV, et al. Non-traditional socio-environmental and geospatial determinants of Alzheimer's disease-related dementia mortality. The Science of The Total Environment. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179745. PMID: 40424712.

BibTeX

@article{moorthy2025-40424712,
  author  = {Moorthy, Skanda and Dazard, Jean‐Eudes and Chen, Zhuo and Charak, Ruby and Palanivel, Shruthika and Deo, Salil Vasudeo and Al-Kindi, Sadeer G and Rajagopalan, Sanjay},
  title   = {{Non-traditional socio-environmental and geospatial determinants of Alzheimer's disease-related dementia mortality}},
  journal = {The Science of The Total Environment},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179745},
  pmid    = {40424712},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179745}
}

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Key findings

Results There was a significant interaction effect between PM 2.5 and SVI on ADRD mortality (β = 31.100, p < 0.001).
Analysis of LL subset revealed associations between ADRD mortality and specific SVI subdomains, as well as built environment variables.
Our findings support a role for non-traditional factors including elements of the built environment, geographical location, and natural environmental exposures contributing to ADRD mortality.

Why it matters

This cross-sectional study found a significant interaction between particulate matter air pollution and social vulnerability index on ADRD mortality, and associations between ADRD mortality and specific social vulnerability subdomains and built environment variables. The findings support a role for non-traditional environmental and social factors in ADRD mortality, but do not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.

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Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 43/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Science of The Total Environment)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	The Science of The Total Environment: journal h-index 494 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
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	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 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	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	1 / 7	Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 1.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Sanjay Rajagopalan: h-index 108 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Case Western Reserve University: institution h-index 1,159 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40424712)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	43 / 100	—

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