ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2025
Vascular risk factors mediate the relationship between education and white matter hyperintensities.
Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Associated With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Decades Later.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- White Matter Hyperintensities and Clinical Phenotype in Late-Onset Psychiatric Disorders: A Multidimensional Clinical-Neuroimaging Study.Neurology international · 2026Article
- Vascular risk factors mediate the relationship between education and white matter hyperintensities.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionEducation can protect against cognitive decline and dementia through cognitive reserve and reduced vascular risk. This study examined whether vascular risk mediated the relationship between education and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden.
methodsData from 1443 older adults from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center were analyzed. A composite vascular score was created using diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, alcohol abuse, body mass index, and blood pressure. Linear regressions and mediation analyses examined associations and indirect effects between education, vascular risk, and WMHs, adjusting for age, sex, and diagnosis.
resultsHigher education was associated with lower vascular risk (p < 0.001) and WMH burden (p = 0.004). Mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of education on WMH via vascular risk (a*b = -0.02, p < 0.001), accounting for 27% of the total effect. DISCUSSION: Education influences cerebrovascular health by reducing vascular risk. Addressing vascular health may reduce WMH burden. HIGHLIGHTS: Education is associated with lower WMH burden in aging adults. Vascular risk factors mediate the education-WMH relationship. Higher education predicts better vascular profiles and less WMH accumulation.
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.