Cognitive aging
Do people know which habits change dementia risk?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Among 551 Irish adults (mean age 59.7), 65.6% thought lifestyle could lower dementia risk but only 31.4% thought dementia could be prevented; head injury, low mental stimulation, and alcohol were the best-recognized risks.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Five Lives Brain Health Ireland Survey of exposure to and awareness of 13 modifiable dementia risk factors, February 2022
- N
- N=551 · 555 volunteers surveyed; analytic sample 551 (50.3% male; mean age 59.7 years)
- Population
- Community volunteers in Ireland completing the FLBHIS in February 2022
- Outcome
- Self-reported exposure to and recognition of modifiable dementia risks; beliefs that lifestyle can reduce or prevent dementia
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Key findings
Modifiable risks were common and more often clustered in men. 65.6% endorsed lifestyle risk reduction but only 31.4% endorsed prevention. Head injury (90.9%), low mental stimulation (85.3%), and alcohol (77.8%) were the top recognized factors; university education predicted greater awareness.
Methodology
Administered a February 2022 cross-sectional survey to 555 volunteers (551 analyzed) covering sociodemographics plus exposure and knowledge for diet, social contact, exercise, hypertension, sleep, depression, smoking, alcohol, cognitive stimulation, hearing, diabetes, air pollution, and head injury.
Limitations
A voluntary cross-sectional survey cannot prove that raising awareness will cut dementia incidence or that the sample represents all of Ireland.
How this study connects
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