Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21753161›Full record

ArticleNeurology2011

Nontraditional risk factors combine to predict Alzheimer disease and dementia.

Xiaowei Song, Arnold Mitnitski, Kenneth Rockwood

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Neurology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
108citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
8.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

108 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 220 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Cognitive impairment and risk of future stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2014
    Pooled it
  6. Neural embedding of frailty in cognitively unimpaired aging and dementia across Latin America.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
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48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xiaowei SongDepartment of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
Arnold Mitnitski
Kenneth Rockwood
Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre · CA

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research MOP-209888
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo investigate whether dementia risk can be estimated using only health deficits not known to predict dementia.

methodsA frailty index consisting of 19 deficits not known to predict dementia (the nontraditional risk factors index [FI-NTRF]) was constructed for 7,239 cognitively healthy, community-dwelling older adults in the Canadian Study of Health and Aging. From baseline, their 5-year and 10-year risks for Alzheimer disease (AD), dementia of all types, and survival were estimated.

resultsThe FI-NTRF was closely correlated with age (r2 > 0.96, p < 0.001). The incidence of AD and dementia increased exponentially with the FI-NTRF (r2 > 0.75, p < 0.001 over 10 years). Adjusted for age, sex, education, and baseline cognition, the odds ratio of dementia increased by 3.2% (p = 0.021) for each deficit (that was not known to predict dementia) accumulated, outperforming the individual cognitive risk factors. The FI-NTRF discriminated people with AD and all-cause dementia from those who were cognitively healthy with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.66 ± 0.03.

conclusionsComprehensive re-evaluation of a well-characterized cohort showed that age-associated decline in health status, in addition to traditional risk factors, is a risk factor for AD and dementia. General health may be an important confounder to consider in dementia risk factor evaluation. If a diverse range of deficits is associated with dementia, then improving general health might reduce dementia risk.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsAlzheimer DiseaseCanadaCognitionDementiaEducational StatusFemaleHumansIncidenceLogistic ModelsLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID21753161
PMCPMC3136058
OpenAlexW2152512271

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.