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Lifelong Marriage and Children Associated With Reduced Dementia Risk
Lifelong marriage and children were found to reduce dementia risk according to study results published in the Journal of Aging and Health.
“Our finding that 6.0% of all dementia cases are related to being unmarried in midlife suggests that marital choices can be of importance for overall dementia prevalence,” lead author Vegard Skirbekk, PhD, Division for Mental and Physical Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway, and co-authors noted. “In light of ongoing societal changes in partnering and marriage dynamics, more attention should be given to family constellations over the life course as these correlate with dementia.”
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Researchers used multinomial logistic regression and a general population sample to examine 6 types of marital statuses in those aged 44 to 68 years—unmarried, continuously divorced, intermittently divorced, widowed, continuously married, and intermittently married. Associations were then made between marital status and a dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosis after age 70. Researchers used relative risk ratios (RRR) and mediation analyses to adjust for outside factors, including education, number of children, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, mental distress, and social activity in midlife.
Of the 8706 participants, 11.6% were diagnosed with dementia and 35.3% were diagnosed with MCI. Dementia occurrence was lowest in the continuously married group and highest in the unmarried (RRR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.24, 2.40) and continuously divorced (RRR = 1.66; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.43) participants. More of an association was found between marital status and dementia than MCI. In a counterfactual scenario where all participants had the same risk of dementia as the continuously married group, there would be 6.0% fewer dementia cases.
“One could seek to identify preventive measures to attenuate the risk of dementia among people who are not continuously married. Governments and social planners need to be aware of the increased risk among those who are single and may consider offering alternative services and social activity initiatives to increase the level of social contact,” researchers concluded. “A greater prevalence of dementia among those who are single suggests that many will need healthcare service earlier.”
