Associations between adverse pregnancy outcomes and cognitive impairment and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Individuals with adverse pregnancy outcomes have an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease, but the association between adverse pregnancy outcomes and cognitive impairment and dementia is less well established. We aimed to synthesise, combine, and assess the growing body of data examining the associations between adverse pregnancy outcomes and mild cognitive impairment and dementia in parous women.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, and Embase from database inception up to July 18, 2024, with no language restrictions, for observational studies or clinical trials that reported mild cognitive impairment or dementia as outcomes and included female individuals or women who had an adverse pregnancy outcome, including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, stillbirth, fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, or placental abruption.

Number of children and risk of dementia: a cohort study.

Background: Findings on the link between the number of children and dementia risk are inconsistent, mostly studied in females, suggesting pregnancy-related changes may be a key factor in this association.

Methods: The Adult Changes in Thought Study is a cohort of adults aged ≥65 years from Kaiser Permanente Washington. The primary exposure was the number of children (0, 1, 2, 3 or ≥4), and the outcome was an incident dementia diagnosis.

Deaths with COVID-19 and from all-causes following first-ever SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals with preexisting mental disorders: A national cohort study from Czechia.

Background: Evidence suggests reduced survival rates following Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in people with preexisting mental disorders, especially psychotic disorders, before the broad introduction of vaccines. It remains unknown whether this elevated mortality risk persisted at later phases of the pandemic and when accounting for the confounding effect of vaccination uptake and clinically recorded physical comorbidities.

Methods And Findings: We used data from Czech national health registers to identify first-ever serologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in 5 epochs related to different phases of the pandemic: 1st March 2020 to 30th September 2020, 1st October 2020 to 26th December 2020, 27th December 2020 to 31st March 2021, 1st April 2021 to 31st October 2021, and 1st November 2021 to 29th February 2022.

Experiences of stigma, discrimination and violence and their impact on the mental health of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health care workers have been exposed to COVID-19 more than people in other professions, which may have led to stigmatization, discrimination, and violence toward them, possibly impacting their mental health. We investigated (1) factors associated with stigma, discrimination, and violence, (2) the association of stigma, discrimination, and violence with mental health, (3) everyday experiences of stigmatization, discrimination, and violence. We chose a combination of a quantitative approach and qualitative content analysis to analyze data collected at three time points: in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Sex differences in cognitive decline among middle-aged and older adults: a cohort study in Europe.

Objectives: Previous studies on sex differences in cognitive decline provide inconsistent findings, with many European countries being underrepresented. We determined the association between sex and cognitive decline in a sample of Europeans and explored differences across birth cohorts and regions.

Methods: Participants 50+ years old enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe had their cognition measured by tests of immediate recall, delayed recall and verbal fluency biennially up to 17 years of follow-up (median 6, interquartile range 3-9 years).

Impact of adverse pregnancy outcomes on brain vascular health and cognition.

A State of the Art lecture titled "Impact of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes on Brain Vascular Health and Cognition" was presented at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis Congress in 2023. Adverse pregnancy outcomes, encompassing conditions such as gestational hypertension, eclampsia, preeclampsia, preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, stillbirth, and gestational diabetes, may form part of an underrecognized pathway from early adulthood reproductive health factors to later-life vascular cognitive impairment and dementia in women. Adverse pregnancy outcomes are caused by dysregulated vascular and metabolic adaptations during pregnancy, and these pathophysiological changes may persist after delivery.

Educational attainment and anxiety in middle-aged and older Europeans.

We examined the relationship between educational attainment (EA) and anxiety symptoms in a sample of 77,792 individuals (median age = 64 years, 55% female) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Using logistic regression, we estimated odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between EA (7 educational levels based on International Standard Classification of Education) and anxiety symptoms (12 or more points from the shortened 5-item version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory), adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors. We further explored whether the relationship varied by region, sex and age group.

Depression in healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic: results from Czech arm of HEROES Study.

The pandemic due to COVID-19 brought new risks for depression of health care workers, which may have differently influenced men and women. We aimed to investigate (1) whether health care workers in Czechia experienced an increase in depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) which factors contributed the most to this change, and (3) whether the magnitude of the associations differed by gender. We studied 2564 participants of the Czech arm of the international COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) Study.

Sons and parental cognition in mid-life and older adulthood.

Prior research suggests a relationship between number of sons and maternal long-term health outcomes, including dementia. We assessed the relationship between having sons and parental cognitive aging. Specifically, we investigated the relationship between having at least 1 son and parental baseline cognition level and rate of cognitive decline, accounting for life course sociodemographic characteristics in a cohort of 13 222 adults aged ≥50 years from the US Health and Retirement Study.

Gender/Sex Differences in the Association of Mild Behavioral Impairment with Cognitive Aging.

Background: While the gender/sex differences in neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia population are well described, gender/sex differences in mild behavioral impairment (MBI) in dementia-free populations and the relationship to cognitive performance and to subsequent cognitive decline have not been studied.

Objective: We aimed to explore gender/sex differences in the association of MBI with the level of cognitive performance and its rate of decline in a dementia-free cohort.

Methods: We studied 8,181 older adults enrolled in the online PROTECT UK Study.

Risk and protective factors of neurocognitive disorders in older adults in Central and Eastern Europe: A systematic review of population-based studies.

Background: A wide range of potentially modifiable risk factors, indicating that the onset of neurocognitive disorders can be delayed or prevented, have been identified. The region of Central and Eastern Europe has cultural, political and economic specifics that may influence the occurrence of risk factors and their link to the cognitive health of the population.

Objective: We aimed to systematically review population-based studies from Central and Eastern Europe to gather evidence on risk and protective factors for neurocognitive disorders.

Association Between Season of Birth and Cognitive Aging in Older Adults: Pan-European Population-Based Study on 70,000 Individuals.

Background: Several early-life factors have been associated with higher risk of developing dementia. It is unclear whether season of birth (SOB) can affect cognitive aging in older adults or not.

Objective: We aimed to study the association of SOB with the level of cognitive performance as well as with the rate of cognitive decline.

Role of sex in the association between childhood socioeconomic position and cognitive ageing in later life.

We aimed to explore sex differences in the association of childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) with the level of cognitive performance and the rate of cognitive decline. We studied 84,059 individuals (55% women; mean age 64 years) from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Sex differences in the association of childhood SEP (household characteristics at age 10) with the level of cognitive performance (verbal fluency, immediate recall, delayed recall) were analysed using multilevel linear regression.

Trajectories of depressive symptoms and associated patterns of cognitive decline.

The aim was to investigate the pattern and rate of cognitive decline across distinctive trajectories of depressive symptoms in older adults. In this prospective multinational cohort study on 69,066 participants (on average 64 years at baseline, 55% women), assessments of cognitive functions (immediate recall, delayed recall, verbal fluency) and depressive symptoms (EURO-D scale) were conducted at 2-year intervals. The trajectories of depressive symptoms were obtained using latent growth mixture modelling, cognitive decline was assessed using smoothing splines and linear mixed effects models.

Changes in depressive symptoms of older adults in the Czech Republic.

Background: It is unclear whether the rising burden of depression is due to its increasing prevalence or better detection. We aimed to study trends in depressive symptoms in older individuals from the Czech Republic.

Methods: We used data from the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe.