Potential modifiable risk factors for low cognition and dementia in Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging

Dementia is a catch-all term for several progressive neurodegenerative disorders characterized by declines in cognitive functions including memory, language, and problem-solving. A continuation of negative pharmaceutical trials shifted the research focus from treatment to prevention and intervention, which requires the identification of modifiable risk factors. Cognitive decline and dementia are a multi-factorial process involving several modifiable risk factors that emerged from early life to later life. Recent studies show that over one third of dementia cases worldwide can be prevented by managing the lifestyle and vascular risk factors. It is unknown how much of low cognition and dementia cases in Canada could be attributed to the potentially modifiable risk factors. Our study is to identify cluster of common modifiable risk factors in Canadian population by age and sex that will open the opportunity to delay cognitive impairment process through multidomain intervention.