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. 2022 Jan 27;19(3):1405.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031405.

Air Pollution and Cognitive Impairment across the Life Course in Humans: A Systematic Review with Specific Focus on Income Level of Study Area

Mina Chandra  1 , Chandra Bhushan Rai  1 , Neelam Kumari  1 , Vipindeep Kaur Sandhu  1 , Kalpana Chandra  2 , Murali Krishna  3 , Sri Harsha Kota  4 , Kuljeet Singh Anand  5 , Anna Oudin  6   7
Affiliations

Air Pollution and Cognitive Impairment across the Life Course in Humans: A Systematic Review with Specific Focus on Income Level of Study Area

Mina Chandra et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Cognitive function is a crucial determinant of human capital. The Lancet Commission (2020) has recognized air pollution as a risk factor for dementia. However, the scientific evidence on the impact of air pollution on cognitive outcomes across the life course and across different income settings, with varying levels of air pollution, needs further exploration. A systematic review was conducted, using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Guidelines to assess the association between air pollution and cognitive outcomes across the life course with a plan to analyze findings as per the income status of the study population. The PubMed search included keywords related to cognition and to pollution (in their titles) to identify studies on human participants published in English until 10 July 2020. The search yielded 84 relevant studies that described associations between exposure to air pollutants and an increased risk of lower cognitive function among children and adolescents, cognitive impairment and decline among adults, and dementia among older adults with supportive evidence of neuroimaging and inflammatory biomarkers. No study from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)was identified despite high levels of air pollutants and high rates of dementia. To conclude, air pollution may impair cognitive function across the life-course, but a paucity of studies from reLMICs is a major lacuna in research.

Keywords: PAH; air pollution; cognition; cognitive impairment; dementia; global pollution; health effects/risks; particulate matter2.5 (PM2.5).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure A1
Figure A1
Original Research Studies on Air Pollution and Cognition as per World Bank Classification of the Income Level of the Country.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Analysis of publication bias metrics for literature on cognitive impact of air pollution using QUADAS-2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PubMed search results for studies on Air Pollution and Cognition across Life-Course.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Gender-based reporting in original studies on air-pollution-associated cognitive impairment.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Proposed aetio-pathological mechanisms of cognitive impact from air pollution across the life course (made using piktochart.com).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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