CHANGES IN SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE AND DEMENTIA ONSET IN JAPAN GERONTOLOGICAL EVALUATION STUDY

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with dementia onset, but its transition throughout the life-course is poorly understood. In a prospective cohort of 40,041 participants, aged over 65 years without dementia, we identified ten optimal classifications of life-course SES transitions and their associated impact on dementia. Our results showed a clear significant dose-response pattern with the highest risk of dementia from 1) impoverished SES throughout, 2) impoverished childhood SES with normal adult SES, 3) impoverished adult SES with self-employed in adulthood, 4) high educated with poor adult SES, 5) never having a job, 6) low educated but high SES (self- employed), 7) technician, 8) high educated with poor adult SES, 9) average SES throughout, and 10) high SES throughout. These results suggest that life-course SES history is strongly associated with dementia risk and did not interact with single scale measurement. Further causal pathways and theories are relevant for disease modification.