Emily Sharp|Margaret Gatz
Relationship Between Education and Dementia
University of Southern California|University of Southern California
objective purpose study review relationship education dementia methods systematic literature review conducted published studies examining relationship education dementia listed pubmed psycinfo databases january 1985 july 2010 inclusion criteria measure education dementia diagnosis standardized diagnostic procedure alzheimer disease total dementia outcomes results total 88 study populations 71 studies met inclusion criteria overall 51 studies 58 reported significant effects lower education risk dementia whereas 37 studies 42 reported significant relationship relationship education risk dementia consistent developed regions compared developing regions age sex raceethnicity geographical region moderated relationship conclusions lower education associated greater risk dementia many studies level education associated risk dementia varied study population years education uniformly attenuate risk dementia seemed consistent relationship dementia occurred years education reflected cognitive capacity suggesting effect education risk dementia may best evaluated within context lifespan developmental model