Ethnic Differences in Dementia Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Globally around 50 million people have dementia. Risk factors for dementia such as hypertension and diabetes are more common in Black, Asian, and other ethnic minorities. There are also marked ethnic inequalities in care seeking, likelihood of diagnosis, and uptake of treatments for dementia. Nevertheless, ethnic differences in dementia incidence and prevalence remain under-explored.

To examine published peer-reviewed observational studies comparing age-specific or age-adjusted incidence or prevalence rates of dementia between at least two ethnic groups.

We searched seven databases on 1 September 2019 using search terms for ethnicity, dementia, and incidence or prevalence. We included population-based studies comparing incidence or prevalence of dementia after accounting for age of at least two ethnic groups in adults aged 18 or more. Meta-analysis was conducted for eligible ethnic comparisons.

We included 12 cohort studies and seven cross-sectional studies. Thirteen were from the US, and two studies each from the UK, Singapore, and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. The pooled risk ratio for dementia incidence obtained from four studies comparing Black and White ethnic groups was 1.33 (95% CI 1.07-1.65; I-squared = 58.0%). The pooled risk ratio for dementia incidence comparing the Asian and White ethnic groups was 0.86 (95% CI 0.728-1.01; I-squared = 43.9%). There was no difference in the incidence of dementia for Latino ethnic group compared to the White ethnic group.

Evidence to date suggest there are ethnic differences in risk of dementia. Better understanding of the drivers of these differences may inform efforts to prevent or treat dementia.