Overall and sex-specific risk factors for subjective cognitive decline: findings from the 2015–2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey

Abstract

Highlights Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) is one of the earliest noticeable symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. While there is no current cure for dementia, research indicates that at least 35% of dementia risk may be modifiable by decreasing exposures years or even decades before cognitive decline becomes clinically evident. Prior research has shown that the risk of dementia in individuals with cognitive impairment is higher in women than in men, as is the overall risk of dementia. Among a nationally representative population of over 200,000 adults, ages 45 years and older, SCD prevalence was 11% for both women and men. Women and men also had nearly equivalent overall population-attributable fractions to explain subjective cognitive decline (39.7% for women versus 41.3% for men). The top three contributing risk factors for both women and men were social isolation, depression, and hypertension, which explained three-quarters of the overall population-attributable fraction.

Keywords

• Subjective cognitive decline
• Dementia
• Cognitive dysfunction
• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
• Risk factors
• Sex factors