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AlzRisk Paper Detail
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Reference: Launer, 1999
Cohort: European Studies of Dementia
Risk Factor: Head injury


Exposure Detail
Participants reported on their history of head injury via structured interview.

"Data regarding risk factors were collected from the participants at baseline when they were dementia free. All questions were administered by interviewers in the home of the respondents. Each study developed its own baseline interview that included questions about a core set of risk factors. The core risk factors were ascertained with questions designed to obtain the same information (i.e., Does the person have a history of head trauma that resulted in unconsciousness?). In the current analyses, risk factors were defined as follows: sex, education (number of years completed), smoking (current, former, never), history of head trauma with unconsciousness
(regardless of when the trauma occurred relative to the onset of dementia), and self-reported family history of
dementia (type unspecified) in first-degree relatives (none, one, two, or more affected relatives). Self-reported
history of myocardial infarction and stroke confirmed by a physician were entered into the models as possible
confounders."

Ethnicity Detail
The cohort comprised participants from Odense, Denmark, the provinces of Girdone and Dordogne in France, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Liverpool, England.

Screening and Diagnosis Detail
Screening Method:
CAMDEXCambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly
GMSGeriatric Mental State Schedule (Copeland 1976)
MMSEMini-Mental State Examination (Folstein 1975)

AD Diagnosis:
NINCDS ADRDA National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association Criteria (McKhann 1984)

Total dementia definition: Dementia via DSM-III-R.

"Findings for dementia were conducted in two stages. The total sample was screened with brief cognitive tests, including the Mini-Mental State Examination,8 the organic section of the Geriatric Mental State Examination,9 and the Cambridge Examination of Mental Disorders Cognitive Test.10 Persons who scored below a given cutoff point, chosen for high sensitivity, on one or two of the screening tests, or who were clinically suspect as judged
by a clinician, were investigated in a follow-up diagnostic interview. The diagnostic phase consisted of detailed neuropsychological testing, an informant interview, and a clinical examination. Diagnoses were made in conference. If the respondent could not participate fully in the workup, medical records were used to make the diagnosis (12.8% of the patients). For these analyses we included dementia patients of mild to severe severity diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed. (revised) (DSM-III-R) criteria."

Covariates & Analysis Detail
Analysis Type:
Poisson regression

AD Covariates:
Aage
Eeducation
Ggender
Oother
SPstudy population

TD Covariates:
Aage
Eeducation
Ggender
Oother
SPstudy population

A term was added for the quadratic of age.