TY - JOUR
T1 - An Examination of the Joint Effect of the Social Environment and Air Pollution on Dementia among US Older Adults
AU - Ilango, Sindana D.
AU - Leary, Cindy S.
AU - Ritchie, Emily
AU - Semmens, Erin O.
AU - Park, Christina
AU - Fitzpatrick, Annette L.
AU - Kaufman, Joel D.
AU - Hajat, Anjum
N1 - Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The Environmental Epidemiology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/6/11
Y1 - 2023/6/11
N2 - Background: Evidence suggests exposure to air pollution increases the risk of dementia. Cognitively stimulating activities and social interactions, made available through the social environment, may slow cognitive decline. We examined whether the social environment buffers the adverse effect of air pollution on dementia in a cohort of older adults. Methods: This study draws from the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. Participants aged 75 years and older were enrolled between 2000 and 2002 and evaluated for dementia semi-annually through 2008. Long-term exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide was assigned from spatial and spatiotemporal models. Census tract-level measures of the social environment and individual measures of social activity were used as measures of the social environment. We generated Cox proportional hazard models with census tract as a random effect and adjusted for demographic and study visit characteristics. Relative excess risk due to interaction was estimated as a qualitative measure of additive interaction. Results: This study included 2,564 individuals. We observed associations between increased risk of dementia and fine particulate matter (µg/m3), coarse particulate matter (µg/m3), and nitrogen dioxide (ppb); HRs per 5 unit increase were 1.55 (1.01, 2.18), 1.31 (1.07, 1.60), and 1.18 (1.02, 1.37), respectively. We found no evidence of additive interaction between air pollution and the neighborhood social environment. Conclusions: We found no consistent evidence to suggest a synergistic effect between exposure to air pollution and measures of the social environment. Given the many qualities of the social environment that may reduce dementia pathology, further examination is encouraged.
AB - Background: Evidence suggests exposure to air pollution increases the risk of dementia. Cognitively stimulating activities and social interactions, made available through the social environment, may slow cognitive decline. We examined whether the social environment buffers the adverse effect of air pollution on dementia in a cohort of older adults. Methods: This study draws from the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. Participants aged 75 years and older were enrolled between 2000 and 2002 and evaluated for dementia semi-annually through 2008. Long-term exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide was assigned from spatial and spatiotemporal models. Census tract-level measures of the social environment and individual measures of social activity were used as measures of the social environment. We generated Cox proportional hazard models with census tract as a random effect and adjusted for demographic and study visit characteristics. Relative excess risk due to interaction was estimated as a qualitative measure of additive interaction. Results: This study included 2,564 individuals. We observed associations between increased risk of dementia and fine particulate matter (µg/m3), coarse particulate matter (µg/m3), and nitrogen dioxide (ppb); HRs per 5 unit increase were 1.55 (1.01, 2.18), 1.31 (1.07, 1.60), and 1.18 (1.02, 1.37), respectively. We found no evidence of additive interaction between air pollution and the neighborhood social environment. Conclusions: We found no consistent evidence to suggest a synergistic effect between exposure to air pollution and measures of the social environment. Given the many qualities of the social environment that may reduce dementia pathology, further examination is encouraged.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159806611&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000250
DO - 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000250
M3 - Article
C2 - 37304341
AN - SCOPUS:85159806611
SN - 2474-7882
VL - 7
SP - E250
JO - Environmental Epidemiology
JF - Environmental Epidemiology
IS - 3
ER -