SynthesisJournal of epidemiology and community health2026
Systematic review of the association between life-course socioeconomic status and late-life cognitive decline.
Synthesis in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Income Volatility During Early to Mid-adulthood and 10-year Memory Decline in a Longitudinal Synthetic Cohort.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- From exposure to embedding: how interconnected social determinants drive health inequalities-a complex adaptive system dynamics approach.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Life-course socioeconomic trajectories and cognitive aging in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.Innovation in aging · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundSocioeconomic status (SES) is a potentially important upstream determinant of late-life cognitive health, but a review which captures the dynamic influence of SES across the life-course is lacking. We conducted a systematic review of studies reporting associations between life-course SES and dementia/late-life cognitive decline.
methodsOn 21 February 2024, we searched Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, British Education Index, Web of Science, Scopus and Advanced Google for studies related to life-course SES and dementia. We included studies employing trajectory or mediation analysis that measured dementia/cognitive decline as outcomes. Two researchers independently screened articles and assessed risk of bias. Results were synthesised narratively and in Harvest plots.
resultsWe included 18 out of 6040 studies screened (n=7 trajectory studies, n=8 mediation studies, n=3 both). Most (13/23) trajectory analyses reported that stable low SES and downward social mobility, relative to stable high SES/upward mobility, were linked to higher dementia and/or cognitive decline risk. Half (5/10) of the mediation analyses reported full mediation of adulthood SES on the association between childhood SES and dementia/cognitive decline, and 4/10 reported partial mediation. Overall, study quality was moderate.
conclusionSES has a dynamic life-course association with dementia risk. Increases in dementia risk are compounded by sustained life-course disadvantage. Policies to address socioeconomic disadvantage across the life-course are needed to address this upstream determinant of dementia. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024505975.
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