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P3‐322: THE SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AIR POLLUTANTS AND THE RISK OF DEMENTIA
Author(s) -
Chen YenChing,
Wu Yun Chun,
Lin YuanChien,
Yu HwaLung,
Chen JenHau,
Chen TaFu,
Sun Yu,
Wen LiLi,
Yip PingKeung,
Chu YiMin,
Chen YenChing
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2014.05.1415
Subject(s) - odds ratio , dementia , confidence interval , medicine , apolipoprotein e , vascular dementia , population , environmental health , disease
Background: There is considerable evidence showing that cigarette smoking contributes to many age-related diseases. However, studies have produced conflicting findings on the association between smoking and developing dementia. The current study aimed to examine the impact of smoking on cognitive function.Methods: Thesample for this study, consisting of 2553 older adults aged 60 years and above, wasobtained from the national household survey entitled "Determinants of Wellness among Older Malaysians: A Health Promotion Perspective" conducted in 2010. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to measure cognitive function. Results: The results showed that the current smokers had lower rate of cognitive impairment, compared to the never smokers. While controlling for the potential confounders, multiple logistic regression revealed that current smokers were 37% less likely to develop cognitive impairment, compared to the never smokers (OR1⁄4 .63; 95% CI, .46-.86). Conclusions: Although these findings show a negative association between cigarette smoking and cognitive impairment, it should be acknowledged that from the present study we are unable to conclude whether this association is causal or due to unmeasured confounding factors which requires further study to identify the biopsychosocial mechanisms that may protect or prone cigarette smokers to cognitive impairment.