EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION AS RISK-FACTORS FOR DEMENTIAS OF THE ALZHEIMER AND ISCHEMIC VASCULAR TYPES

Education and occupation as sociodemographic risk factors for dementia s of the Alzheimer (DAT) and ischemic vascular types (IVD) were evalua ted by two case series studies. Cases were compared to well-evaluated individuals identified as healthy normals acting as controls. There we re 150 patients with probable DAT, 102 patients with probable IVD, and 188 neurologically and cognitively normal subjects. Logistic regressi on indicated that for DAT, education with occupation was the best pred ictor(OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.23-1.87). For IVD, the two predictors were: education with occupation(OR, 1.84; 95% CI 1.38-4.50) and education wi th gender (OR, 3.40; 95% CI, 1.29-8.92). We conclude that risk of deme ntia is increased in those with limited educational background and occ upational achievement.