Education and Dementia: A Meta-Analytic Study

Abstract

Considerable controversy exists about the role of education in the risk of dementia. Individual studies have not been conclusive so far. To examine the hypothesis that lower education is associated with a higher risk of dementia, we carried out a meta-analysis. Observational studies published as of October 2005 that examined the association between education and risk of dementia were systematically reviewed. Relative risks (RRs) and odds ratios were extracted from cohort and case-control studies. We first compared the risk of dementia in subjects with high level of education with the risk of dementia in those with low educational level. In a subsequent analysis, we compared the risk of persons with high education with the risk of subjects with education level other than high (medium, low). We weighted log RRs for cohort studies or odds ratios by the inverse of their variances. Nineteen studies were included in our meta-analysis (13 cohort and 6 case-control studies). RRs for low versus high education level were: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) 1.80 (95% CI: 1.43–2.27); non-AD dementias, 1.32 (95% CI: 0.92–1.88), and all dementias 1.59 (95% CI: 1.26–2.01). For low and medium versus high education level, the RRs were: AD 1.44 (95% CI: 1.24–1.67); non-AD 1.23 (95% CI: 0.94–1.61), and all dementias 1.33 (95% CI: 1.15–1.54). These results confirm that low education may be a risk factor for dementia, especially for AD.

Prevalence of dementia in Latin America: a collaborative study of population-based cohorts

“…The lack of primary health care may predispose individuals to presenting dementia caused by controllable or curable diseases such as systemic arterial hypertension or syphilis. Low educational level, particularly illiteracy, has also been consistently associated with higher rates of dementia (Zhang et al, 1990;Caamaño-Isorna et al, 2006;Manly et al, 2007;Llibre Rodriguez et al, 2008).…”

Caffeine Intake is Associated with a Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline: A Cohort Study from Portugal

“…The option for this stratified analysis and the small number of subjects presenting the outcomes of interest did not allow the choice of potential confounding factors included in the multivariate models to be based on statistical criteria. We selected factors whose association with neurodegenerative disorders is established or under discussion, namely age [17], education [29,30], smoking [31,32], alcohol intake [33,34], hypertension [35], diabetes [36], obesity [36,37], and likely to be related to caffeine consumption (especially through coffee intake), even if this association is to a large extent culturally determined and varies with gender and across population settings [38,39].…”

Factors Related to Cognitive Function in Elderly People

“…13 Tingkat pendidikan yang rendah berhubungan dengan penurunan fungsi kognitif yang dapat terjadi lebih cepat dibandingkan dengan tingkat pendidikan yang tinggi. Suatu teori menjelaskan tentang synaptic reserve hypothesis, dimana orang yang berpendidikan tinggi mempunyai lebih banyak sinaps di otak dibanding orang yang berpendidikan rendah.…”