The associations of socioeconomic status with incident dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are modified by leucocyte telomere length: a population-based cohort study

Abstract

Socio-economic status (SES) and biological aging are risk factors for dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, however, it is less clear if the associations with SES vary sufficiently across different biological age strata. We used data from 331,066 UK Biobank participants aged 38–73 with mean follow-up of 12 years to examine if associations between SES (assessed by educational attainment, employment status and household income) and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are modified by biological age (assessed by leucocyte telomere length: LTL). Diagnosis of events was ascertained through hospital admissions data. Cox regressions were used to estimate hazard ratios [HRs]. A consistent dose–response relationship was found, with participants in low SES and shorter LTL strata (double-exposed group) reporting 3.28 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.57–4.20) and 3.44 (95% CI 2.35–5.04) times higher risks of incident dementia and Alzheimer’s disease respectively, compared to those of high SES and longer LTL (least-exposed group). Of interest is a synergistic interaction between SES and LTL to increase risk of dementia (RERI 0.57, 95% CI 0.07–1.06) and Alzheimer’s disease (RERI 0.79, 95% CI 0.02–1.56). Our findings that SES and biological age (LTL) are synergistic risk factors of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease may suggest the need to target interventions among vulnerable sub-groups.