Antonio Terracciano of Florida State University and colleagues from the US and France conducted a cohort study and found that married individuals have an increased risk of developing dementia in old age. The analysis included data from the National Alzheimer's Disease Coordinating Center (NACC) on more than 24,000 individuals (average age 71.79 years). They were followed for up to 18 years. The association between initial marital status and clinical diagnosis of dementia was tested using Cox regression. The results were published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia.
Compared with married individuals, the risk of developing dementia overall was significantly lower in widowed, divorced, and never-married individuals: the hazard ratios (HR) were 0.73, 0.66, and 0.60, respectively. Analysis by individual diagnoses revealed a similar correlation for Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, heterogeneous data for frontotemporal dementia, and no correlation with the risk of vascular dementia and mild cognitive impairment; in all unmarried subgroups, the risk of progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia was lower. The identified trends were not significantly dependent on age, gender, education, genetic predisposition, or the presence of depression.
