Skip to main content

Chronic and New-Onset Anxiety Linked to All-Cause Dementia

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Aug 7, 2024.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 7, 2024 -- Chronic and new-onset anxiety are associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia, especially among those aged younger than 70 years, according to a study published online July 24 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Kay Khaing, from the University of Newcastle in New Lambton Heights, Australia, and colleagues examined the longitudinal association between chronic versus resolved versus new-onset anxiety and all-cause dementia risk among 2,132 individuals (mean age, 76 years) recruited from the Hunter Community Study. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale was used to measure anxiety.

The researchers observed associations for chronic anxiety and new-onset anxiety at follow-up with all-cause dementia risk (hazard ratios, 2.80 and 3.20, respectively), with an average time to dementia diagnosis of 10 years; no association was seen for resolved anxiety. These results were driven by chronic and new-onset anxiety among participants younger than 70 years in subgroup analyses (hazard ratios, 4.58 and 7.21, respectively). Very similar results were seen in sensitivity analyses imputing missing data and addressing reverse causation.

"These findings support anxiety as a potential modifiable risk factor for dementia and point to the possible role of managing anxiety in middle aged and 'young' older adults to reduce the risk of dementia in later life," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Greater Neighborhood Disadvantage Tied to Inflammatory, Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers

THURSDAY, July 3, 2025 -- Greater neighborhood disadvantage is associated with increased inflammatory and Alzheimer disease (AD) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in older...

Chronic Exposure to Systemic Inflammation May Increase Risk for Affective Disorders

THURSDAY, July 3, 2025 -- For individuals with specific autoimmune conditions, there appears to be an increased risk for affective disorders, according to a study published online...

Late Childhood Screen Time May Lead to Developmental Changes in Brain

THURSDAY, July 3, 2025 -- Too much screen time in late childhood is associated with developmental changes in the brain, leading to more depressive symptoms in early adolescence...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.