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Sweetened Beverages and Incident All-Cause Dementia Among Older Adults
Hui Chen, Yihong Ding, Klodian Dhana, Puja Agarwal, Todd L. Beck, Kumar Bharat Rajan, Debora Melo van Lent, Yuan Ma et al.. JAMA Psychiatry, 2025-06-18
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Of 10 974 participants (60.0% female, mean [SD] age: 73.2 [6.8] years), 2445 developed incident all-cause dementia over 116 067 person-years of follow-up. Consumption of SSB and ASB in older adulthood was not associated with dementia risk in later life. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) per serving per week for SSB was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.98-1.01; P = .18; I2 = 0%) and for ASB was 1.00 (95% CI, 0.99-1.01; P = .99; I2 = 1%). The pooled HRs comparing the highest (≥1 serving per day) with lowest (0 to <1 serving per month) consumption groups were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.78-1.03) for SSB and 1.00 (95% CI, 0.83-1.21) for ASB. These findings were similar across cohorts and subgroups. In contrast, an inverse association was observed for the Mediterranean diet score (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99 per 5-unit increment) as a positive control. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, late-life consumption of SSB or ASB was not associated with the risk of dementia. However, given their detrimental effects on metabolic health and related chronic diseases during early life and midlife, the effects of early-life consumption of SSB and ASB on the risk of dementia warrant further investigation.
Key findings
- Of 10 974 participants (60.0% female, mean [SD] age: 73.2 [6.8] years), 2445 developed incident all-cause dementia over 116 067 person-years of follow-up.
- Consumption of SSB and ASB in older adulthood was not associated with dementia risk in later life.
- The pooled hazard ratio (HR) per serving per week for SSB was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.98-1.01; P = .18; I2 = 0%) and for ASB was 1.00 (95% CI, 0.99-1.01; P = .99; I2 = 1%).
- The pooled HRs comparing the highest (≥1 serving per day) with lowest (0 to <1 serving per month) consumption groups were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.78-1.03) for SSB and 1.00 (95% CI, 0.83-1.21) for ASB.
- These findings were similar across cohorts and subgroups.
Why it matters
In this study of older adults, drinking sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages in later life was not linked to dementia risk. The authors note that possible effects of consuming these drinks earlier in life still need to be studied.
Study details
- Participants974
- Effect size60.0%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 56/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA Psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | JAMA Psychiatry: journal h-index 256 (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 | 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 974 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 | 2 / 7 | Cited 9 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.7× 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 | 1 / 4 | Cited 9 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Changzheng Yuan: h-index 41 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40531522) |
| 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
- DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.1230
- PubMed: 40531522
- 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).
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
Chen, H., Ding, Y., Dhana, K., Agarwal, P., Beck, T. L., Rajan, K. B., et al. (2025). Sweetened Beverages and Incident All-Cause Dementia Among Older Adults. JAMA Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.1230
Vancouver
Chen H, Ding Y, Dhana K, Agarwal P, Beck TL, Rajan KB, et al. Sweetened Beverages and Incident All-Cause Dementia Among Older Adults. JAMA Psychiatry. 2025. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.1230. PMID: 40531522.
BibTeX
@article{chen2025-40531522,
author = {Chen, Hui and Ding, Yihong and Dhana, Klodian and Agarwal, Puja and Beck, Todd L. and Rajan, Kumar Bharat and van Lent, Debora Melo and Ma, Yuan and others},
title = {{Sweetened Beverages and Incident All-Cause Dementia Among Older Adults}},
journal = {JAMA Psychiatry},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.1230},
pmid = {40531522},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.1230}
}
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