Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24966214›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of epidemiology2014

Fine particulate matter air pollution and cognitive function among older US adults.

Jennifer A Ailshire, Eileen M Crimmins

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of epidemiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 139 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
139citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

139 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  9. Association of Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Deprivation with Depression and Pain.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
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79 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Jennifer A Ailshire
Eileen M Crimmins

Funding

HRS Yrs29-34: Y33 SSA CoFundingU01AG009740 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jessica Faul, KENNETH M LANGA · 1990 to 2026
$555.8M
USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography &Population HealthP30AG017265 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI JENNIFER A AILSHIRE · 1999 to 2026
$17.9M
RESEARCH TRAINING IN GERONTOLOGYT32AG000037 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI JENNIFER A AILSHIRE, EILEEN M CRIMMINS · 1985 to 2026
$13.2M
Neighborhood Context, Social Relationships, and Health: Examining the PathwaysR00AG039528 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI AILSHIRE, JENNIFER A · 2014 to 2016
$738k
Adding Contextual Data to the Health and Retirement StudyR21AG045625 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI AILSHIRE, JENNIFER A, CRIMMINS, EILEEN M · 2013 to 2014
$447k
Neighborhood Context, Social Relationships, and Health: Examining the PathwaysK99AG039528 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI AILSHIRE, JENNIFER A · 2012 to 2013
$176k
NIA NIH HHS K99 AG039528NIA NIH HHS P30 AG017265NIA NIH HHS R00 AG039528NIA NIH HHS R21 AG045625NIA NIH HHS T32 AG000037NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Existing research on the adverse health effects of exposure to pollution has devoted relatively little attention to the potential impact of ambient air pollution on cognitive function in older adults. We examined the cross-sectional association between residential concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) and cognitive function in older adults. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we analyzed data from the 2004 Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative sample of US adults aged 50 years or older. We linked participant data with 2000 US Census tract data and 2004 census tract-level annual average PM2.5 concentrations. Older adults living in areas with higher PM2.5 concentrations had worse cognitive function (β = -0.26, 95% confidence interval: -0.47, -0.05) even after adjustment for community- and individual-level social and economic characteristics. Results suggest that the association is strongest for the episodic memory component of cognitive function. This study adds to a growing body of research highlighting the importance of air pollution to cognitive function in older adults. Improving air quality in large metropolitan areas, where much of the aging US population resides, may be an important mechanism for reducing age-related cognitive decline.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overCognitionCognition DisordersCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansInhalation ExposureMaleMemory, EpisodicMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsParticulate MatterSocioeconomic FactorsUnited StatesUrban PopulationParticulate Matterair pollutioncognitive functioncommunitieshealth

Identifiers

PMID24966214
PMCPMC4128773

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.