Tool developed to predict dementia risk

A practical risk score tool has been developed to help people identify their potential risk for dementia, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

Lina Ren, MMed, of the Shenzhen Mental Health Center in China, and colleagues sought to develop a point risk score prediction model of dementia.

The authors used a large United Kingdom population-based prospective cohort study that was conducted between March 13, 2006, and Oct. 1, 2010. Outcomes of interest included 5-, 9-, and 13-year dementia risk.

A total of 444,695 participants (205,187 male; 239,508 female; mean age, 56 years) were included. Dementia occurrence after 13 years of follow-up was 0.7% among men and 0.5% among women.

The authors reported that men and women shared some modifiable and protective risk factors, as well as independent risk factors that accounted for 31.7% of men developing dementia and 53.35% of women.

The total point score of the risk score model ranged from –18 to 30 in men and –17 to 30 in women. In addition, the risk score model yielded nearly 100% prediction accuracy of 13-year dementia risk for both men and women, the authors reported.

“We identified some risk factors of dementia, which covered socioeconomic adversity, sleep phenotypes, physical activity, and comorbidities,” Ren and colleagues wrote. “The developed risk prediction system may help individuals to identify their potential risk profile and provide guidance on precise and timely actions to prevent or delay dementia.”