Social Vulnerability Index Linked to Risk for Alzheimer Disease
TUESDAY, April 1, 2025 -- Individuals who live in areas with a higher social vulnerability index (SVI) have an increased risk for incident Alzheimer disease (AD) and a faster rate of cognitive decline, according to a study published online March 26 in Neurology.
Pankaja Desai, Ph.D., from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project to examine the association between SVI and risk for incident AD and rate of cognitive decline. The study included 6,781 participants aged 65 years and older at enrollment (mean age, 72 years) who lived Chicago communities representing 24 U.S. census tracts.
More than 90 percent of Black participants were in tracts ≥50 percentile SVI and about 87 percent of White participants were in tracts ≤50 percentile SVI. The researchers found that participants in tracts with SVI >50th to 75th percentile and >75th percentile had odds ratios of 2.23 and 2.04, respectively, for clinical AD. Greater incident AD risk was seen for participants in more versus less vulnerable tracts. For participants below the 25th percentile SVI, the annual rate of global cognitive decline was 0.055 standard deviation units (SDU). Compared with participants below the 25th percentile SVI, those in the 50th to 75th percentile and >75th percentile had a faster annual rate of cognitive decline by 0.010 and 0.014 SDU, respectively (approximately 18 and 25 percent faster).
"Prioritizing communities experiencing more social vulnerability may be an effective way to mobilize resources for older adults who need specific services," the authors write. "Such community programs might provide avenues for reducing AD risk at a population level."
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