People who live in disadvantaged areas have a greater risk of developing cognitive dysfunction than people in better off areas, a study by Professor Helene McNulty and colleagues at the University of Ulster has found.
The findings of this study, funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland, are based on novel analysis of existing data collected for the TUDA Ageing north-south cohort study of over 5,000 older people in Ireland. The latest results show that - over and above factors like lower levels of education - living in a disadvantaged area significantly predicts cognitive dysfunction in ageing. This means that older people living in deprived areas of Ireland, North and South, are more likely to suffer mental illnesses ranging from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.
The latest findings from the TUDA study were presented today (Friday 10 October 2014) at the annual Scientific Meeting of the Irish Gerontological Society in Galway. Compared with people in the least deprived areas, people living in the most deprived areas had:
- three years less education;
- a greater likelihood of anxiety and depression;
- higher body mass index;
- lower rates of physical activity;
- higher rates of smoking.
Although cognitive dysfunction generally increased with age, older people living in the most deprived areas were more at risk of poor cognitive health compared with a person of the same age living in a less deprived area.
"The overall results of our study suggest that older people living in the most deprived areas in Ireland, North and South, are at higher risk of poor mental health and developing cognitive impairment" said Professor McNulty. "We should target resources and strategies at this group to reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairment".
Professor Davis Coakley, Co-Chair of CARDI added: "These are important findings and we must give priority across the island of Ireland to tackling the inequalities that this report highlights in mental health, ideally beginning at an early age."