Potentially Modifiable Risk Factors for Alzheimer Disease in Colombia: A Real-World Data Analysis

OBJECTIVES: With an increasing prevalence, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. However, a percentage of potentially modifiable cases have been reported. This article describes the prevalence of 4 of its potentially modifiable risk factors (hearing loss, diabetes mellitus (DM), obesity, and hypertension).

METHODS: Descriptive cross-sectional study with data from 2018-2022, using the Colombian health system database SISPRO. The population of this study consisted of all people within the age range 50-100 with a main diagnosis of AD according to the ICD-10. Patients were divided by decades, and the prevalence ratio (PR) for the outcome of AD and each of its potentially modifiable risk factors was then calculated and adjusted by age using the Mantel-Haenszel formula.

RESULTS: 167 556 cases of AD were identified and 66.4% were females. Peak age was at 88 years old, and prevalence for people older than 70 years old was 33.3 cases / 1000. In regards to the PR, value’s magnitude was bigger in younger groups. After correction with age due to changes in prevalence, highest magnitude was found in hypertension with a value of 1.44, followed by DM (1.34), hearing loss (1.31), and obesity (1.12), with changes in the last one’s association direction with correction in males and overall result.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study are consistent with the fact that the prevalence of potentially modifiable risk factors is higher within the group of people with AD as their main diagnosis, in comparison to those without this diagnosis.