Exploring the impacts of risk factors on mortality patterns of global Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias from 1990 to 2021

Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) affect millions of people worldwide, with mortality rates influenced by several risk factors and exhibiting significant heterogeneity across geographical regions. A study investigated the impact of risk factors on global ADRD mortality patterns from 1990 to 2021.
Data on ADRD mortality rates, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes prevalence were obtained for 204 countries from the GBD platform. Additional variables such as HDI, life expectancy, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use prevalence were sourced from the UNDP and WHO. All the data were extracted for men, women, and the overall population.
The study found that cardiovascular disease had significant positive effects of 1.84, 3.94, and 4.70 on men, women, and the overall ADRD mortality rates, respectively. Tobacco showed positive effects of 0.92, 0.13, and 0.39, while alcohol consumption had negative effects of – 0.59, – 9.92, and – 2.32, on men, women, and the overall ADRD mortality rates, respectively. Overall, cardiovascular disease and tobacco use were associated with increased ADRD mortality rates, while moderate alcohol consumption exhibited a protective effect. The countries were classified into five distinct subgroups. Among all the clusters, cluster A exhibited the lowest mortality rate with a slower-increasing pattern over the clusters. The effects of risk factors on ADRD mortality rates varied among the clusters Notably, tobacco use showed a protective effect in cluster A, as did alcohol consumption in cluster B.
Source: Mobaderi, T., Kazemnejad, A. & Salehi, M. Exploring the impacts of risk factors on mortality patterns of global Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias from 1990 to 2021. Sci Rep 14, 15583 (2024).