SynthesisJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2021
Sense of Purpose in Life Is Associated with Lower Risk of Incident Dementia: A Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Purpose in life and stress: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 16 samples.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Sense of meaning and purpose in life and risk of incident dementia: New data and meta-analysis.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Purpose in life and blood-based biomarkers of brain health.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Wellbeing trajectories and dementia risk among Mexican-origin adults living in the U.S.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Article
- Investigating the trivariate reciprocal longitudinal relationships between purpose, loneliness, and cognitive function.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Life Purpose Lowers Risk for Cognitive Impairment in a United States Population-Based Cohort.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Bidirectional Relationships Between Well-Being and Cognitive Function.Psychological science · 2025Article
- Positive Psychological Factors Relate to Domain-Specific Cognition and Daily Functioning in Middle-Aged and Older Adults with HIV.AIDS and behavior · 2025Article
- Prosocial Intentions and Subsequent Cognitive Health: A Prospective Cohort Study.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Life satisfaction and risk of dementia over 18 years: an analysis of the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center dataset.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Purpose in life and accelerometer-measured physical activity among older adults.Psychology & health · 2025Article
- Momentary Associations Between Physical Activity, Affect, and Purpose in Life.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Article
- Factors Affecting Resilience and Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias.Annals of neurology · 2024Review
- The Association between Happiness and Cognitive Function in the UK Biobank.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Purpose in life and markers of immunity and inflammation: Testing pathways of episodic memory.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2023Article
- Sense of purpose in life and work-life tension: Perceptions of interference and enhancement.Aging and health research · 2023Article
- Sense of Purpose in Life and Beliefs and Knowledge of Alzheimer's Disease.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2023Article
- Reduced Epigenetic Age in Older Adults With High Sense of Purpose in Life.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023Article
- Well-Being as a Protective Factor Against Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Review
- Sense of Purpose in Life and Subjective Cognitive Failures.Personality and individual differences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA sense of purpose in life has been associated with healthier cognitive outcomes across adulthood, including risk of dementia. The robustness and replicability of this association, however, has yet to be evaluated systematically.
objectiveTo test whether a greater sense of purpose in life is associated with lower risk of dementia in four population-based cohorts and combined with the published literature.
methodsRandom-effect meta-analysis of prospective studies (individual participant data and from the published literature identified through a systematic review) that examined sense of purpose and risk of incident dementia.
resultsIn six samples followed up to 17 years (four primary data and two published; total N = 53,499; n = 5,862 incident dementia), greater sense of purpose in life was associated with lower dementia risk (HR = 0.77, 95%CI = 0.73-0.81, p < 0.001). The association was generally consistent across cohorts (I2 = 47%), remained significant controlling for clinical (e.g., depression) and behavioral (e.g., physical inactivity) risk factors, and was not moderated by age, gender, or education.
conclusionSense of purpose is a replicable and robust predictor of lower risk of incident dementia and is a promising target of intervention for cognitive health outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.