Abstract
Introduction: Growing evidence implicates air pollution as a risk factor for dementia, but prior work is limited by challenges in diagnostic accuracy and assessing exposures in the decades prior to disease development. We evaluated the impact of long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures on incident dementia (all-cause, Alzheimer's disease [AD], and vascular dementia [VaD]) in older adults. Methods: A panel of neurologists adjudicated dementia cases based on extensive neuropsychological testing and magnetic resonance imaging. We applied validated fine-scale air pollutant models to reconstructed residential histories to assess exposures. Results: An interquartile range increase in 20-year PM2.5 was associated with a 20% higher risk of dementia (95% confidence interval [CI]: 5%, 37%) and an increased risk of mixed VaD/AD but not AD alone. Discussion: Our findings suggest that air pollutant exposures over decades contribute to dementia and that effects of current exposures may be experienced years into the future.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 549-559 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Alzheimer's and Dementia |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2023 |
Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease
- air pollution
- dementia
- longitudinal cohort study
- vascular dementia
- Humans
- Alzheimer Disease/epidemiology
- Dementia, Vascular/epidemiology
- Air Pollution/adverse effects
- Ginkgo biloba
- Air Pollutants/adverse effects
- Particulate Matter/adverse effects
- Aged