Anxiety is associated with increased risk of dementia in older Swedish twins
Andrew J Petkus1, Chandra A Reynolds2, Julie Loebach Wetherell3
1Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Introduction:
We asked whether anxiety is associated with prospective risk of dementia, and the extent to which genetic influences mediate this association.
Methods:
Nondemented twins (n = 1082) from the Swedish Adoption Twin Study of Aging completed an assessment of anxiety symptoms in 1984 and were followed for 28 years.
Results:
Baseline anxiety score, independent of depressive symptoms, was significantly associated with incident dementia over follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.06). There was 48% increased risk of becoming demented for those who had experienced high anxiety at any time compared with those who had not. In co-twin analyses, the association between anxiety symptoms and dementia was greater for dizygotic (HR = 1.11; 95% CI = 1.02-1.20) compared with monozygotic twins (HR = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.95-1.20), indicating genetic mediation.
Discussion:
Anxiety symptoms were associated with increased risk of dementia. Genetic factors common to dementia and anxiety partially mediated this association.
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