Cadar D, et al. - The relationship of education, wealth, and area-based deprivation with the incidence of dementia over the last decade in England was investigated. Researchers also examined differences between people born in different periods. Findings suggested that the incidence of dementia was socioeconomically patterned primarily by the level of wealth in an English nationally representative sample. For participants born in later years, this association was somewhat stronger.

Methods

• Researchers used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a prospective cohort study that is representative of the English population.
• The associations between markers of socioeconomic status (wealth quintiles and the index of multiple deprivation) and dementia incidence were investigated.
• They derived 2 independent groups using a median split (born between 1902-1925 and 1926-1943) to examine outcomes associated with age cohorts.
• Main outcomes and measures included dementia.
• Dementia was determined by physician diagnosis and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly.

Results

• Researchers enrolled a total of 6,220 individuals aged 65 years and older (median [interquartile range] age at baseline, 73.2 [68.1-78.3] years; 3410 [54.8%] female).
• Among these, 463 (7.4%) new cases of dementia were ascertained in the 12 years between 2002-2003 and 2014-2015.
• The hazard of developing dementia was 1.68 times higher (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.68 [95% CI, 1.05-2.86]) for those in the lowest wealth quintile compared with those in the highest quintile; this observation seemed not to be influenced by education, index of multiple deprivation, and health indicators.
• They also observed higher hazards for those in the second-highest quintile of index of multiple deprivation (HR = 1.62 [95% CI, 1.06-2.46]) compared with those in the lowest (least deprived) quintile.