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. 2009 Mar;22(1):71-80.
doi: 10.1177/0891988708328220. Epub 2008 Dec 10.

Parental education and late-life dementia in the United States

Mary A M Rogers  1 , Brenda L Plassman, Mohammed Kabeto, Gwenith G Fisher, John J McArdle, David J Llewellyn, Guy G Potter, Kenneth M Langa
Affiliations

Parental education and late-life dementia in the United States

Mary A M Rogers et al. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

We investigated the relation between parental education and dementia in the United States. Participants in the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study were included, with information regarding parental education obtained from the Health and Retirement Study. The odds of dementia in elderly Americans whose mothers had less then 8 years of schooling were twice (95% CI, 1.1-3.8) that of individuals with higher maternal education, when adjusted for paternal education. Of elderly Americans with less educated mothers, 45.4% (95% CI, 37.4-53.4%) were diagnosed with dementia or ;;cognitive impairment, no dementia'' compared to 31.2% (95% CI, 25.0-37.4%) of elderly Americans whose mothers had at least an 8th grade education. The population attributable risk of dementia due to low maternal education was 18.8% (95% CI, 9.4-28.2%). The education of girls in a population may be protective of dementia in the next generation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time-related odds ratios (95% Confidence Intervals) for associations among education variables and cognitive impairment (CIND or dementia). ApoE, apolipoprotein E; OR, odds ratio.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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