Family History of Dementia in Old-Age Participants with Subjective Memory Complaints Predicts Own Risk for Dementia in a Longitudinal Multi-Center Cohort Study

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Heser, Kathrin^{a; 1; *} | Kleineidam, Luca^{a; b; 1} | Wagner, Michael^{a; b} | Luppa, Melanie^c | Löbner, Margrit^c | Wiese, Birgitt^d | Oey, Anke^d | König, Hans-Helmut^e | Brettschneider, Christian^e | van der Leeden, Carolin^f | van den Bussche, Hendrik^f | Fuchs, Angela^g | Pentzek, Michael^g | Weyerer, Siegfried^h | Werle, Jochen^h | Bickel, Horstⁱ | Scherer, Martin^f | Maier, Wolfgang^a | Ramirez, Alfredo^{a; b; j; k; l; 2} | Riedel-Heller, Steffi G.^{c; 2}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | [b] German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | [c] Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany | [d] Institute of General Practice, Working Group Medical Statistics and IT Infrastructure, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany | [e] Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany | [f] Institute of Primary Medical Care, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany | [g] Institute of General Practice (ifam), Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | [h] Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | [i] Department of Psychiatry, Technical University Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany | [j] Division of Neurogenetics and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | [k] Department of Psychiatry & Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, San Antonio, TX, USA | [l] Cluster of Excellence Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Dr. Kathrin Heser, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Klinik für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen und Gerontopsychiatrie, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland. Tel.: 0049 228 287 19827; Fax: 0049 228 287 90 19827; E-mail: Kathrin.Heser@ukbonn.de.

Note: [1,2] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Background:Subjective memory complaints and family history of dementia are possibly intertwined risk factors for the own subsequent dementia risk and Alzheimer’s disease. However, their interaction has rarely been studied. Objective:To study the association between subjective memory complaints and family history of dementia with regard to the own subsequent risk of dementia. Methods:Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses over a follow-up period of up to 13 years were conducted in a population sample of participants without dementia at baseline (n = 3,256, mean age = 79.62 years), using group comparisons and Cox proportional hazards models. Results:Cross-sectionally, participants with subjective memory complaints were significantly more likely to report family history of dementia. Longitudinally, family history of dementia (FH) was significantly associated with subsequent dementia in the subjective memory complaints (SMC) group, but not in those without SMC. A relative excess risk due to interaction analysis confirmed a significant FHxSMC-interaction. Conclusions:Family history of dementia was a predictor of incident dementia in those with SMC, which can serve as an additional, clinically relevant criterion to gauge the risk of dementia in older-aged subjects with SMC with and without objective cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Aging, Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive complaints, dementia, family history of dementia, memory complaints, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive decline, subjective cognitive impairment

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-230410

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 96, no. 2, pp. 579-589, 2023