Scam susceptibility is associated with a markedly accelerated onset of Alzheimer's disease dementia.

Introduction: The association of scam susceptibility with the timing of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia onset is unknown.

Methods: One thousand ninety-two older adults without dementia underwent assessments of scam susceptibility and annual clinical evaluations to document incident AD dementia. Accelerated failure time models examined the relation of scam susceptibility with dementia onset.

Results: During a mean of 5 years of follow-up (standard deviation = 3.1), 188 individuals (17%) were diagnosed with incident AD dementia. A higher level of scam susceptibility was associated with a considerably earlier dementia onset (  = -0.039; 95% confidence interval: -0.061, -0.017); those with a high level of susceptibility developed AD dementia at a mean age of 90.9 years compared to 98.2 for those with a low level. Results persisted after controlling for global cognition, sex, and education.

Discussion: Scam susceptibility is associated with a markedly earlier onset of AD dementia. Assessment of susceptibility may facilitate early identification of individuals at risk of developing dementia.

Highlights: We examined whether scam susceptibility among older adults is associated with an accelerated onset of Alzheimer's disease dementia. Participants came from a large ongoing cohort study of aging. Scam susceptibility was assessed using a validated measure. Scam susceptibility was associated with a marked acceleration in dementia onset. Assessment of susceptibility may facilitate early identification of dementia.