Dementia is becoming increasingly common in the UK as our population ages. Identifying groups at high risk of dementia will be important. Individuals who are widowed appear to have a higher risk of developing dementia; however this association has not been assessed in the UK. The reasons for this association are unknown. It may be due to the bereaved experiencing stress because of the loss of their partner, or bereavement leading to an increase in other dementia risk factors, such as social isolation. This study will aim to clarify whether partner bereavement has an effect on the risk of being diagnosed with dementia and identify factors that may explain this association. We will use data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) to compare the risk of dementia among persons who have lost their partner with the risk among persons who have not lost their partner.
Given the rapid growth of the ageing population and the anticipated increase in dementia cases globally, identifying those who are at high-risk of the condition may be useful to help target preventive dementia strategies. Partner bereavement has been associated with an increased risk of dementia; however, this association has not been well-described using UK-based data. This study will build on the existing evidence base to better understand to what extent partner bereavement affects the development, and diagnosis of, dementia and what are the main factors mediating the association. We will use a matched cohort study to examine if partner bereavement is associated with the onset of diagnosed dementia among heterosexual couples. Partners will be defined as two persons with (1) the same family number, (2) opposite sex, (3) an age gap of </= 10 years and (4) no younger adult in the household within 15 years of either of the couple. We will then identify all deaths occurring in the couples during 1997-2018 and the bereaved partner will be classified as exposed. The date of partner bereavement will be considered the index date. Next, we will randomly match each exposed person by age and sex to a non-exposed person. Persons in the matched cohort have to be alive and have a partner but without ever-experiencing previous partner bereavement on the index date for the matched exposed person. Using stratified Cox regression, we will compute hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the association between partner bereavement and dementia. We will examine if associations vary by characteristics of the bereaved, such as gender and age.
Diagnosed dementia
Harriet Forbes - Chief Investigator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Harriet Forbes - Corresponding Applicant - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Caroline Morton - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Charlotte Warren-Gash - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Krishnan Bhaskaran - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Liam Smeeth - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Marcus Richards - Collaborator - University College London ( UCL )
Sigrún Alba Jóhannesdóttir Schmidt - Collaborator - Aarhus University Hospital
Sinead Langan - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Yun "Angel" Wong - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
HES Admitted Patient Care;Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS);ONS Death Registration Data;Patient Level Index of Multiple Deprivation;Practice Level Index of Multiple Deprivation