This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0891988708328220v1 22/1/71    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Rogers, M. A. M. Articles by Langa, K. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rogers, M. A. M. Articles by Langa, K. M. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Parental Education and Late-life Dementia in the United States

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan, maryroge{at}umich.edu

Brenda L. Plassman, PhD

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Mohammed Kabeto, MS

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan

Gwenith G. Fisher, PhD

Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

John J. McArdle, PhD

Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

David J. Llewellyn, PhD

4 Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Guy G. Potter, PhD

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Kenneth M. Langa, MD, PhD

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan

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.

Key Words: all cognitive disorders/dementia • MCI (mild cognitive impairment) • risk factors in epidemiology • other education

This version was published on March 1, 2009

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, Vol. 22, No. 1, 71-80 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0891988708328220


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?