Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41870153›Full record

ArticleAge and ageing2026

The association between midlife neighbourhood walkability and Alzheimer's disease in women: a prospective nested case-control study.

Emma Walker, Fen Wu, Andrew G Rundle, Simin Hua, James W Quinn, Kathryn M Neckerman, Yelena Afanasyeva, Alan A Arslan, Karen L Koenig, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Age and ageing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Emma WalkerNYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, Mineola, NY, USA.
Fen WuDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0997-0890
Andrew G RundleDepartment of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
Simin HuaDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
James W QuinnDepartment of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
Kathryn M NeckermanColumbia Population Research Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Yelena AfanasyevaDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Alan A ArslanDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7775-8085
Karen L KoenigDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Anne Zeleniuch-JacquotteDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Yu ChenDepartment of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1519-4894

Funding

A prospective study of circulating autoantibodies and breast cancer risk in the NYU Women’s Health StudyU01CA290680 · NCI · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI Yu Chen · 2025 to 2026
$1.4M
Midlife circulating autoantibodies and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in WomenR01AG092496 · NIA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI Yu Chen, Yian Gu · 2026 to 2026
$725k
A prospective study of viral infections and subsequent risk of Alzheimer’s diseaseR01AG091450 · NIA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI Yu Chen, STEPHEN J ELLEDGE · 2026 to 2026
$713k
NCI NIH HHS U01 CA290680NIA NIH HHS R01 AG091450NIA NIH HHS R01 AG092496
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe role of modifiable environmental factors in Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk remains poorly understood. Built environment features such as neighbourhood walkability (NW) may influence long-term cognitive health among women.

methodsThe New York University Women's Health Study recruited 14 273 cognitively healthy women aged 35-65 years between 1985 and 1991, with follow-up for over 30 years. We geocoded residential addresses for each participant to derive a validated four-item baseline NW measure and a two-item average annual NW index over the follow-up period. We conducted a nested case-control study of 1865 AD cases identified via linkage to Medicare claims during follow-up matched to 3730 controls on age, race/ethnicity and Medicare coverage using risk-set sampling. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for AD in relation to tertiles of NW measures, adjusting for potential confounders. Subgroup analyses examined potential effect modification.

resultsCompared with women living in areas with the lowest baseline NW, those in the middle and highest tertiles had lower odds of having a diagnosis of AD during follow-up, with an OR of 0.95 (0.82-1.11) and 0.83 (0.71-0.98), respectively (P-trend = .03). Results were similar when using average annual NW. The association did not differ appreciably by age, smoking status, education or body mass index.

conclusionsHigher midlife NW was associated with reduced odds of AD later in life. These findings highlight the potential for built environment interventions to promote cognitive health and support healthy ageing in women.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseBuilt EnvironmentEnvironment DesignNeighborhood CharacteristicsResidence CharacteristicsWalkingAdultAgedAge FactorsCase-Control StudiesCognitionFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsMiddle AgedOdds RatioAlzheimer’s diseasebuilt environmentmidlife risk factorsneighbourhood walkabilityolder peopleprospective nested case–control studywomen’s health

Identifiers

PMID41870153
PMCPMC13159029

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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.