More than three quarters of this representative PD cohort developed dementia during the 8-year study period. Early hallucinations and akinetic-dominant PD were associated with an increased risk of dementia.

Contrary to previous reports, head trauma was not a risk factor for AD, and smoking did not protect against AD. The association of family history with the risk of AD is weaker than previously estimated on the basis of cross-sectional studies. Female gender may modify the risk of AD, whether it be via biological or behavioral factors.

Patients with PD have an almost sixfold increased risk for becoming demented compared with subjects without PD.

Compared with men, women have an increased risk for AD. There are no gender differences in risk for vascular dementia.

: In the oldest old, several known predictors of mortality, such as sociodemographic factors, smoking, and obesity, have lost their importance, but a high disability level, poor physical and cognitive performance, and self-rated health (women only), predict mortality, which shows that mortality in the oldest old is not a stochastic process.

The mean annual decline on the Mini-Mental State Examination for PD patients was 1 point. However, a marked variation was found. In patients with PD and dementia, the mean annual decline was 2.3, which was similar to the decline observed in patients with Alzheimer disease.

BackgroundDementia is a chronic illness associated with a progressive loss of cognitive and intellectual abilities, such as memory, judgment and abstract thinking.The objective of this study was to assess the health utilities of patients with dementia in Europe and identify the key factors influencing their Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQol).MethodsThis study used cross-sectional data from the Odense study; a Danish cohort of patients aged 65–84 living in Odense, Denmark. A total of 244 patients with mild to severe dementia were interviewed together with a caregiver about their health status and activities of daily living (ADL). Alzheimer's disease was diagnosed according to the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for probable dementia. Vascular dementia and other types of dementia were diagnosed according to the DSM-IIIR criteria. Severity of dementia was defined by score intervals on the Mini Mental State Examination score: mild (MMSE 20–30), moderate (MMSE 10–19), and severe (MMSE 0–9). Based on the ADL information, the patients' dependency level was defined as either dependent or independent. Questions from the Odense Study were mapped into each of the five dimensions of the EQ-5D in order to assess patients' HRQol. Danish EQ-5D social tariffs were used to value patients' HRQol.A regression analysis of EQ-5D values was conducted with backward selection on gender, age, severity, ADL level and setting in order to determine the main factor influencing HRQoL.ResultsThe EQ-5D weight in patients independent upon others in ADL was 0.641 (95% CI: [0.612–0.669]), and in those dependent upon others was 0.343 (95% CI: [0.251–0.436]).ConclusionDependency upon others to perform ADL was the main factor affecting HRQoL.

Smoking may accelerate cognitive decline in nondemented elderly.