Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
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We followed 828 nondemented residents of Hisayama Town, Kyushu, Japan, aged 65 years or older (88.3% of the elderly population) for 7 years starting in 1985 in order to determine the type-specific incidence of dementia and its risk factors in the general Japanese population.
Why it matters
Over 7 years from 1985, 103 of 828 older residents of Hisayama, Japan, developed dementia; vascular dementia was more common than Alzheimer's in men (12.2 vs 5.1 per 1,000 person-years) but not in women (9.0 vs 10.9). Vascular dementia was linked to age, prior stroke, systolic blood pressure and alcohol use, and half of the examined cases with multiple small (lacunar) infarcts had no known stroke. Physical activity was associated with lower Alzheimer's risk, but this is an observed link in one Japanese town, not proof that exercise prevents the disease.
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Cognitive performance as measured by the MMSE varies within the population by age and education.
Why it matters
Reports typical Mini-Mental State Examination scores by age and education from 18,056 adults in US community surveys. Scores were lower with older age and fewer years of schooling, from a median of 29 at ages 18 to 24 to 25 at age 80 and older. The authors say MMSE scores should flag current cognitive difficulties, not be used to make formal diagnoses.
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We report the prevalence rates for dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) obtained from a probability sample survey of 5,055 noninstitutionalized older persons in Shanghai, China.
Why it matters
This survey in Shanghai found that dementia prevalence in people 65 and older was 4.6%, with Alzheimer's disease accounting for 65% of dementia cases, and that increasing age, female gender and low education were independent risk factors. It describes who gets dementia and its risk factors, not how to treat, cure or prevent it.
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Among 1,528,885 adults with type 2 diabetes (mean age, 58 years; 49.2% women), GLP-1 receptor agonists plus metformin were associated with lower incidence of vascular dementia (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.37-0.57), mild cognitive disorder (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66-0.95), and Alzheimer disease (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.31-0.70).
Why it matters
In this large observational study of people with type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists plus metformin were linked to lower incidence of vascular dementia, mild cognitive disorder and Alzheimer's disease, while SGLT-2 inhibitors plus metformin reduced only vascular dementia risk. The authors caution that the higher incidence seen with insulin monotherapy is likely due to confounding and should not be read as a direct drug effect.
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In Fine-Gray models, dementia risk was higher in female than in male participants (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 1·89, 95% CI 1·30-2·76) and Black than Asian participants (sHR 1·75, 1·07-2·88), lower in APOE ε2 carriers than in non-carriers (sHR 0·39, 0·17-0·88), and not significantly higher in APOE ε4 carriers than in non-carriers (sHR 1·51, 0·92-2·47).
Why it matters
In this cohort of people aged 90 and older, dementia risk was higher in women than men and in Black than Asian participants, and lower in APOE ε2 carriers. APOE ε4 carriers did not have significantly higher risk in this age group, and the authors stress that screening and monitoring remain important even among people who live exceptionally long.
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55/100
Despite differences in prevalence of APOE-ε4, its association with dementia risk was similar across Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and non-Latino White participants.
Why it matters
APOE-e4 carriership was associated with higher dementia risk across Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and non-Latino White older adults, despite differences in how common the allele was. The association was similar across groups, though the estimate for Filipino participants was not statistically significant.
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Distinct gut microbial compositions are associated with dementia.
Why it matters
This scoping review found that distinct gut microbial compositions are associated with dementia, with studies using models such as random forests and neural networks and noting reduced butyrate-producing bacteria in Alzheimer's disease. It is about diagnosis and association, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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In this analytic cohort of 4130 participants, 486 (11.8%) experienced at least one hospitalization with delirium.
Why it matters
In a cohort of 4,130 hospitalized older adults, those from the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had a higher incidence of delirium in unadjusted analyses, but this link weakened after adjusting for other factors. Among those with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, more disadvantaged neighborhoods were still linked to more delirium events, but the study does not test any treatment or prevention.
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Across several cohorts, delirium is emerging as an important prognostic signal, independent of chronic markers of baseline morbidity, that identifies patients at markedly increased risk of death or future dementia.
Why it matters
This paper reports across several cohorts that delirium is associated with markedly increased risk of death or future dementia, independent of baseline morbidity. The strongest relative associations were often in those without baseline dementia or with few long-term conditions.
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The global rise in dementia necessitates scalable cognitive assessments that can evolve to serve both clinical and research applications.
Why it matters
In a memory-clinic cohort, a 5-minute remote digital screen distinguished Alzheimer's disease dementia from subjective cognitive decline, and a 20-minute subset performed better. This tool is for remote assessment and screening; the study did not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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LIGHT will provide insight into the implementation and (cost-)effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention for indicated prevention in a memory clinic setting.
Why it matters
This describes the design of a randomized controlled trial that will test a lifestyle intervention in memory clinics to reduce modifiable dementia risk. No results are available yet, so it cannot yet say whether the intervention prevents dementia.
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55/100
Latent neuropathologic profiles were identified using hierarchical clustering, and longitudinal cognitive trajectories associated with each profile were estimated using functional mixed-effects models.
Why it matters
Among 1,633 community-living older adults, hierarchical clustering revealed five distinct neuropathologic profiles, including one characterized by high Alzheimer's disease neuropathologic change and amyloid angiopathy and another by high LATE-NC and hippocampal sclerosis, with different longitudinal cognitive trajectories. This describes how different brain pathologies group together and relate to cognition, and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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In this multi-cohort study of older adults without cognitive impairment, we show that WMH and lacunes independently predict increased risk of MCR, after adjusting for key confounders.
Why it matters
In this cross-sectional study across four cohorts, higher white matter hyperintensity scores were associated with motoric cognitive risk syndrome, which raises dementia risk. Because it is cross-sectional, it cannot show whether small vessel disease causes this syndrome or how to prevent it.
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55/100
Among 24 762 people with HIV and 494 963 people without HIV (86.9% men, 45.5% White, 23.1% Black, 20.3% Hispanic), incident dementia diagnoses declined from 2000 to 2023 in both people with and without HIV (-7.68 and -2.70% per period, respectively).
Why it matters
Incident dementia diagnoses declined from 2000 to 2023 in people with and without HIV, and by 2020–2023 the difference between the two groups was no longer statistically significant. However, dementia prevalence remained higher in people with HIV, likely reflecting excess risk from earlier years, highlighting the need for sustained attention to cognitive health in HIV care.
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55/100
Between Sept 1, 2017, and Feb 28, 2019, 19 403 individuals were invited to participate and 9745 participants (1525 with dementia, 8220 without dementia) were included. 4445 (45·6%) of 9745 participants were male and 5300 (54·4%) were female.
Why it matters
This Norwegian cohort estimated that addressing all 14 Lancet risk factors could prevent over half of dementia cases, with additional preventive potential from marital and occupational factors, particularly in women. These are population-level estimates of preventable proportion, not evidence that any specific intervention works.
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Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) increases the risk of dementia.
Why it matters
In this 52-week trial of 80 people with mild cognitive impairment, those who used a mobile app to manage diet and physical activity had higher cognitive scores at follow-up than those who received general recommendations. This suggests a multidomain mobile app intervention could help improve cognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
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MEDAS-R was positively associated with better MMSE performance (p = 0.043) and showed a borderline association with the MoCA (p = 0.051), but not with the ACE-R score (p = 0.356).
Why it matters
In this study of Portuguese adults at high risk of dementia, a Mediterranean diet score that reversed the wine item was associated with better MMSE performance, while the original score showed no association with cognitive function. These findings support re-evaluating how wine is scored in Mediterranean diet adherence measures.
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Early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is critical yet challenging, particularly in younger individuals.
Why it matters
Analyzing digital voice recordings, machine learning detected mild cognitive impairment with an AUC up to 0.988 and differentiated early-onset Alzheimer's from other early-onset cognitive impairment with an AUC up to 0.904. This is about early detection, not treating, curing or preventing the disease.
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Although intraoperative hypotension initially appeared to be associated with postoperative delirium, this association was no longer significant when accounting for temporal improvements in perioperative care.
Why it matters
In this retrospective cohort of 5171 older surgical patients, intraoperative hypotension was associated with increased odds of postoperative delirium, but the association was no longer statistically significant after adjusting for year of surgery. It is about a possible risk factor for delirium after surgery, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Cognitive status was determined for 5414 participants, with a dementia prevalence of 8.9% when assessed at a mean age of 81 years.
Why it matters
This study reports a dementia prevalence of 8.9% in a Wisconsin cohort assessed at a mean age of 81 years. The dataset offers a resource to explore life course determinants of dementia, not a treatment or cure.
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A total of 2176 person living with dementia-caregiver dyads were enrolled; 1271 persons living with dementia (58.4%) and 1650 caregivers (75.8%) were female, and their mean (SD) age were 80.6 (8.5) years and 65.2 (12.3) years, respectively.
Why it matters
In this randomized clinical trial, two comprehensive dementia care programs did not differ from usual care on most measures of the person living with dementia or the caregiver. Caregivers did report higher satisfaction with both programs than with usual care.
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During an average follow-up of 3.63 years, we observed a total of 1 493 individuals developing dementia among 4 341 depressed and 43 214 matched non-depressed individuals (62.4% female; mean [SD] age at baseline 64.4 [11.1] years).
Why it matters
In this longitudinal study, depression was associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease (adjusted HR 4.96) and vascular dementia (adjusted HR 1.92), with a U-shaped association between Alzheimer's disease risk and how long someone had been diagnosed with depression. The authors suggest depression may be both a risk factor and a prodromal symptom for Alzheimer's disease, but the study does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Physician-delivered palliative care. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Descriptive statistics characterizing physician-delivered palliative care.
Why it matters
This population-level cross-sectional study found that just over half of decedents who underwent maintenance dialysis received physician-delivered palliative care in the last year of life, typically starting a median of 23 days before death. It cannot infer causal associations or comment on whether the end-of-life care matched patients' goals.
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A total of 8994 and 14 720 participants were involved in the change-to-change analyses and change-to-dementia analyses, respectively.
Why it matters
This longitudinal study found that shifting to optimal sleep duration or a morning chronotype was linked to higher cognitive scores, while moving to non-optimal sleep or stopping napping was linked to higher dementia risk. It suggests maintaining healthy sleep habits may help prevent dementia, but it is observational and cannot prove cause and effect.
From across this topic
10 of the 7,967 studies in this topic, picked by a fixed rule (a hash of each study's address), not by score or date; each page of this list shows a different 10. The same 10 appear here every time.
- How old are the elderly?
- Absence of care among community-dwelling older adults with dementia and functional limitations
- Effects of multi-component non-pharmacological interventions on cognition in participants with mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Nonpharmacological Interventions to Reduce Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: A Systematic Review
- Effect of postoperative delirium on outcome after hip fracture
- Young adult urbanicity, late midlife neighborhood disadvantage, and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older men
- Low-Dose Lithium for Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial
- Arterial stiffness, cognitive decline, and risk of dementia: the Rotterdam study
- Air pollution and dementia using longitudinal electronic health record data from the Indian Health Service
- Multidomain interventions: state-of-the-art and future directions for protocols to implement precision dementia risk reduction. A user manual for Brain Health Services-part 4 of 6