The role of noninfectious comorbidities in the association between severe infections and risk of dementia in Finland: A nationwide registry study - PubMed
8 hours ago
- #Dementia
- #Infection
- #Epidemiology
- Severe infections were found to be associated with an increased risk of dementia, independent of noninfectious comorbidities.
- The study analyzed nationwide Finnish registry data, including 62,555 dementia cases and 312,772 matched controls aged 65+.
- 29 hospital-treated diseases (including 2 infections and 27 mental/physical conditions) were identified as risk factors for dementia.
- Nearly half (47%) of dementia cases had at least one of these diseases diagnosed before dementia onset.
- Adjustment for 27 comorbid diseases did not substantially change the association between infections (cystitis and unspecified bacterial infections) and dementia risk.
- The findings were consistent across sex and education subgroups and stronger for early-onset dementia.
- Limitations include inability to account for unmeasured psychosocial, behavioral, or biological confounders not captured in registries.
- Conclusions support severe infections as independent risk factors for dementia.