Table 1.
Study characteristics.
| Study (1st author, year) Region |
Study design | Study population | Source of data extraction | Method of exposure assessment | Outcome definition | Lag time; adjusted or matched covariates | Group definition | N | Statistics (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort study | |||||||||
| Kim, 2018 [27] South Korea |
PC | From the South Korean NHIS-NSC database. Age ≥ 50 free of dementia |
Patient records on NHIS-NSC database files between 2002 and 2013 | GA operation codes in the NHIS-NSCdatabase | Dementia (clinical diagnosis using ICD-10 codes and history of dementia medication) | Did not included lag time; adjusted for gender, age group, health security system, health care visit frequency, and Charlson comorbidity index | HR | ||
| GA group | 44954 | 1.285 (1.214–1.361) | |||||||
| Age 60–69 | 17387 | 1.216 (1.118–1.322) | |||||||
| Age > 69 | 5655 | 1.162 (1.059–1.276) | |||||||
| Unexposed group | 174469 | 1.000 | |||||||
| Age 60–69 | 57867 | 1.000 | |||||||
| Age> 69 | 41461 | 1.000 | |||||||
| Teipel, 2018 [31] German |
RC | From the German statutory health insurance database. Age ≥ 65 |
Medical records from AOK | History of joint replacement surgery | Dementia (clinical diagnosis using ICD-10 codes) | Included lag time; adjusted for cerebrovascular risk factors, age, sex, the presence of delirium, and regular prescription of sedative or analgesic drugs (SAD) | No surgery | 154604 | Calculated HR 3.55 (3.13–4.03) |
| Quarter 0 | 10563 | ||||||||
| 1-3 quarter | 0.95 (0.82–1.11) | ||||||||
| 4-6 quarter | 0.83 (0.70–0.97) | ||||||||
| ≥7 quarter | 0.91 (0.83–0.99) | ||||||||
| Aiello Bowles, 2016 [30] Washington, USA |
PC | Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) cohort which was randomly selected from members of Group Health (GH). Age ≥ 65 free of dementia |
Self-reported data through interview at baseline and follow-upstudy visits | Self-reported anesthesia data (reviewed by anesthesiologist) | Dementia (DSM-IV) AD (possible or probable AD by NINCDS-ADRDA) |
Did not included lag time; adjusted for ACT study cohort, age, age at study entry, sex, education, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, stroke, coronary heart disease, exercise, self-rated health, body mass index, depression, Parkinson's disease, Charlson comorbidity index, and difficulty with activities of daily living. | High-risk surgery with GA | 248 | HR (dementia/AD) 0.86 (0.58–1.28) 0.95 (0.61–1.49) |
| Other surgery with GA | 3363 | 0.63 (0.46–0.85) 0.65 (0.46–0.93) |
|||||||
| Other surgery with neuraxial anesthesia | 123 | 0.49 (0.26–0.90) 0.62 (0.32–1.19) |
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| No anesthesia group | 254 | 1.00 1.00 |
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| Chen, 2014-1 [26] Taiwan |
RC | LHID (a subset of the Taiwan NHIRD). Age ≥ 50 without history of cancer, dementia, parkinsonism, stroke, and brain surgery |
Records from the LHID between 2004 and 2007 | Record of anesthesia from the LHID | Dementia (clinical diagnosis using ICD-9-CM) | Did not included lag time; matched for exact age and sex. Cox regressions adjusted for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, depression, and Charlson index. |
HR | ||
| Anesthesia group | 24901 | 1.75 (1.59–1.92) | |||||||
| General | 13715 | 1.46 (1.28–1.68) | |||||||
| IV or IM | 1686 | 1.60 (1.11–2.30) | |||||||
| Regional | 8777 | 1.80 (1.57–2.07) | |||||||
| Control group (4 or 5 patients selected for each person in anesthesia group) | 110972 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Zuo, 2010 [8] Virginia, USA |
RC | From the CDR containing deidentified information of inpatients and outpatients in the University of Virginia Health System. | Medical records from the CDR | Record of spine surgery under GA | AD (clinical diagnosis using ICD-9-CM) | Did not included lag time; none | Spine surgery group (from discectomy to fusion between 1992 and 2004) | 2881 (age ≥ 60) | Calculated OR using number of patients 0.67 (0.43–1.06) |
| No surgery group | 6157 (age ≥ 60) |
1.00 | |||||||
| Lee, 2005 [9] USA | RC | Veterans Affairs (VA) patients undergoing CABG or PTCA between October 1996 and September 1997. Age ≥ 55 without AD |
VA administrative databases of inpatient and outpatient encounters | History of CABG (not mentioned about GA, but necessary) | AD (clinical diagnosis using ICD-9) | Did not included lag time; adjusted for age, number of surgeries, number of diagnoses, and length of stay for index hospitalization. | CABG group (including patients who had both CABG and PTCA) | 5216 | HR 1.71 (1.02–2.87) |
| PTCA group | 3954 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Case-control studies | |||||||||
| Strand, 2019 [62] Sweden |
CC | Case: Swedish Dementia Quality Registry, diagnoses of AD, late-onset AD, early-onset AD, and mixed Alzheimer's and vascular dementia in the county of Östergötland from May 2007 to April 2012 Control: selected from the Statistics Sweden |
Medical records | Medical record of prior GA with gas | Dementia (diagnoses of AD, late-onset AD, early-onset AD, and mixed Alzheimer's and vascular dementia from the dementia registry) | Did not included lag time; adjusted for age category, sex, hypotension under anesthesia, total time anesthesia, and number of exposures of anesthesia. | Cases | 457 | OR 2.47 (1.17–5.22) |
| Controls | 420 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Huang, 2018 [63] China |
CC | Case: residents in Shenyang, China, who were diagnosed with dementia between January 2007 and December 2012 Control: matched for every case via the medical reports archival system |
Medical records from Chinese database of inhabitants of Shenyang | Medical record of prior GA | Dementia (DSM-IV) AD (DSM-IV) |
Did not included lag time; matched for sex and age (within 1 year). | Cases | OR | |
| Dementia | 577 | 0.81 (0.71–1.09) | |||||||
| AD | 485 | 0.89 (0.61–1.01) | |||||||
| Controls | |||||||||
| Dementia | 577 | 1.00 | |||||||
| AD | 485 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Chen, 2014-2 [25] Taiwan |
NCC | LHID (a subset of the NHIRD). Age ≥ 50 Case: newly diagnosed from 2005 to 2009 Control: 4-fold frequency matched |
Medical records from the LHID | Record of endotracheal tube intubation GA | Dementia (clinical diagnosis using ICD-9-CM) | Did not included lag time; matched randomly by age (every 5 years of age), sex, and index year. Adjusted for age, sex, depression, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, and atherosclerosis. | Dementia group | 5345 | OR 1.34 (1.25–1.44) |
| Control group | 21380 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Sprung, 2013 [59] Minnesota, USA |
NCC | From residents of Olmsted County using Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP). Case: diagnosed between 1985 and 1994 Control: matched for each case |
Medical records from the REP | Medical record of exposure to GA between age 45 and the index date | Dementia (DSM-IV) AD (DSM-IV, NINCDS-ADRDA) |
Did not included lag time; matched randomly by sex and age (within 1 year). | Cases | OR (dementia/AD) | |
| Dementia | 877 | 0.89 (0.73–1.10) | |||||||
| AD | 732 | 0.88 (0.71–1.11) | |||||||
| Controls | |||||||||
| Dementia | 877 | 1.00 | |||||||
| AD | 732 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Bufill, 2009 [61] Spain |
NCC | From subjects in COGMANLLEU study (belonging to the basic health care area of Manlleu). Age ≥ 80 |
Interview with participants and their relatives or caregivers | Self- or surrogate-reported | AD (DSM-IV, NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; matched for age and gender. Adjusted for age. |
Cases | 51 | OR 3.22 (1.03–10.09) |
| Controls | 49 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Yip, 2006 [28] England and Wales, UK |
NCC | From Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (CFAS). Age ≥ 65 Case/control defined based on two times of interview |
Interview with participant | Self-reported exposure to GA | Dementia (AGECAT algorithm) | Did not included lag time; adjusted for age, sex, education, and social class. | Cases: Dementia at wave 2/3 |
133/142 | OR (wave 2/3/both) 0.7 (0.4–1.1) 0.6 (0.3–1.0) 0.6 (0.4–0.9) |
| Controls: Wave 2/3 |
2453/1347 | 1.0 1.0 1.0 |
|||||||
| Harmanci, 2003 [14] Turkey |
CC | Randomly selected from population registries (records of the Muhtars' list). Age ≥ 70 Case: probable AD patients Control: cognitively normal individuals identified by neurologic examination. |
Interview with proxy informants | Surrogate-reported history of GA | AD (probable AD by NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; adjusted for level of education, use of electricity for residential heating, and occupational group. | Cases | 57 | OR 1.2 (0.58–2.48) |
| Controls | 127 | 1.0 | |||||||
| Gasparini, 2002 [29] Italy |
CC | Recruited at the Department of Neurological Sciences of “La Sapienza” University of Rome, who were treated between January 1990 and June 1997. Each case was matched for 4 controls (2 PD and 2 other disease) |
Hospital records | Hospital record of exposure to GA in the 1-year and 5-year periods prior to onset of neurological disease. | AD (probable AD by NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; matched for sex, age (within 3 years), and geographical area of residence. | Cases | 115 | Calculated OR 1.03 (0.60–1.75) |
| Controls (PD) | 230 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Controls (others) | 230 | ||||||||
| Tyas, 2001 [60] Canada |
CC | Randomly sampled from a list provided by the provincial health insurance plan. Age ≥ 65 |
Interview and questionnaire | Self-reported exposure to GA | AD (probable or possible AD by NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; adjusted for age, sex, education. | Cases | 36 | RR 0.61 (0.22–1.63) |
| Controls | 658 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Bohnen, 1994 [10] Minnesota, USA |
CC | Case: selected from patients with AD developed between 1975 and 1984 in Olmsted County by reviewing medical records Control: matched for each AD case from Olmsted County Mayo Clinic patients |
Medical records | Anesthesia records for GA | AD (clinical diagnosis using their own preselected specific criteria) | Did not included lag time; matched for age, sex. | Cases | 252 | OR 1.28 (0.82–2.00) |
| Controls | 252 | 1.00 | |||||||
| CHSA, 1994 [57] Canada |
CC | Recruited from both the community and institutions in Canada. Age ≥ 65 |
Risk factor questionnaires completed by proxy respondents | Surrogate-reported exposure to GA | AD (probable AD by NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; frequency matching by study center, residence in community or institution, and age group Adjusted for age, sex, residence, and education |
Cases | 258 | OR 1.07 (0.60–1.90) |
| Controls | 535 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Li, 1992 [15] China | CC | Cases: Clinically diagnosed AD inpatients or outpatients from 1988 to 1989. Controls: Selected from the neighborhoods of the matched cases. |
Direct interview using a structured and standardized questionnaire with surrogate informant. | Surrogate-reported history of GA | AD (probable AD by NINCDS-ADRDA, ICD-10) |
Did not included lag time; Matched by age (within 3 years) and sex. |
Cases | 70 | OR 0.62 (0.20–1.86) |
| Controls | 140 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Kokmen, 1991 [11] Minnesota, USA |
CC | Cases: Rochester, Minnesota, residents with onset of AD between 1960 and 1974 using the existing medical records resource. Controls: matched for each case by searching the registration system at Mayo Clinic. |
Entire community medical records. | Medical record of prior GA | AD (clinical diagnosis by reviewing clinical and postmortem data) | Did not included lag time; matched by age (within years), sex, and duration of community medical record. | Cases | 415 | OR 0.86 (0.60–1.21) |
| Controls | 415 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Graves, 1990 [56] Washington, USA |
CC | Cases: patients living in Washington state who were diagnosed with AD between January 1980 and June 1985. Controls: friend, relative or surrogate of the cases. |
Interview with surrogate respondents | Surrogate-reported history of surgery with GA | AD (DSM-III, NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; matched by sex and age (within 10 years). Adjusted for age in the reference year. |
Cases | 130 | OR 1.21 (0.54–2.73) |
| Controls | 130 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Broe, 1990 [58] Australia |
CC | Cases: from consecutive new referrals to dementia clinics in Sydney by general practitioners (GPs). Controls: a person matched for each case from same GP's files. |
Interview with the informants of the cases and controls | Surrogate-reported exposure to GA | AD (probable or possible AD by NINCDS-ADRDA) | Did not included lag time; matched for sex and age within 2 years. Matched pairs odds ratio was calculated. |
Cases | 170 | OR 0.95 (0.50–1.81) |
| Controls | 170 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Amaducci, 1986 [12] Italy | CC | Cases: Patients admitted to the neurology departments of the seven centers between 1982 and 1983. Controls: 1 hospital (from same hospital) and 1 population control (neighbor, a friend, or an acquaintance) was identified for each case |
Interview with a surrogate respondent. | Surrogate-reported exposure to GA | AD (clinical diagnosis using their own criteria) |
Did not included lag time; Matched for age (within 3 years), sex, and region of residence. Matched-pair analysis were used. |
Cases | 116 | Calculated OR 1.00 (0.38–2.66) |
| Controls (hospital) | 116 | 1.00 | |||||||
| Controls (population) | 97 | ||||||||
| Heyman, 1984 [13] USA |
CC | Cases: participants in a comprehensive clinical, genetic, and epidemiological study of AD at Duke University Medical Center. Control: 2 matched subjects selected by the telephone sampling technique of random-digit dialing. |
Structured interview with a close family member. | Surrogate-reported history of surgery with GA | AD (clinical diagnosis using their own diagnostic procedure) | Did not included lag time; matched for sex, race, 5-year age interval (50-54, 55-59, etc.), and residential area. | Cases | 40 | Calculated OR 0.63 (0.20–1.96) |
| Controls | 80 | 1.00 | |||||||
Abbreviations. N: number of subjects; CI: confidence interval; HR: hazard ratio; OR: odds ratio; RR: relative risk; AD: Alzheimer's disease; GA: general anesthesia; PC: prospective cohort study; RC: retrospective cohort study; NCC: nested case-control study; CC: case-control study; ICD-10: International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision; ICD-9-CM: International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification; DSM-III: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition; DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition; NINCDS-ADRDA: National Institutes of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders; AGECAT: Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy; NHIS-NSC: National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort; LHID: Longitudinal Health Insurance Database; NHIRD: National Health Insurance Research Database; AOK: Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse; CDR: Clinical Data Repository; CABG: coronary artery bypass graft; PTCA: percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty; PD: Parkinson's disease; CHSA: The Canadian Study of Health and Aging.