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. 2021 Jan 13;19:6. doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01873-7

Table 2.

Risk factors that are common in non-communicable neurological disorders (i.e., found in more than one disease under consideration)

Factor Metric Effect size (95% CI) Neurological condition Level of evidence Study
Farming OR 1.42 (1.17–1.73) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Suggestive Belbasis, 2016 [78]
OR 1.30 (1.16–1.46) Parkinson disease III Bellou, 2016 [50]
Pesticides OR 1.62 (1.40–1.88) Parkinson disease III Bellou, 2016 [50]
OR 1.44 (1.22–1.70) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Weak Belbasis, 2016 [78]
Type 2 diabetes mellitus RR 1.54 (1.39–1.72) Alzheimer disease Convincing Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 1.60 (1.43–1.79) Dementia Highly suggestive Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 2.28 (1.94–2.66) Vascular dementia Convincing Bellou, 2017 [49]
Low-frequency electromagnetic fields OR 1.29 (1.03–1.62) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Weak Belbasis, 2016 [78]
RR 1.74 (1.37–2.21) Alzheimer disease Suggestive Bellou, 2017 [49]
Organic solvents OR 1.54 (1.03–2.29) Multiple sclerosis Weak Belbasis, 2016 [78]
OR 1.22 (1.01–1.47) Parkinson disease IV Bellou, 2016 [50]
Midlife BMI RR 1.81 (1.22–2.69) Alzheimer disease Weak Bellou, 2016 [50]
RR 1.91 (1.40–2.62) Dementia Suggestive Bellou, 2017 [49]
Head injury OR 1.65 (1.09–2.51) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Suggestive Belbasis, 2016 [78]
OR 1.55 (1.33–1.81) Parkinson disease II Bellou, 2016 [50]
Mild traumatic brain injury OR 1.35 (1.01–1.78) Dementia Weak Bellou, 2017 [49]
OR 1.40 (1.03–1.90) Alzheimer disease Weak Bellou, 2017 [49]
Depression at any age/stage RR 1.99 (1.84–2.16) Dementia Convincing Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 2.92 (1.87–4.56) Vascular dementia Weak Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 1.77 (1.48–2.13) Alzheimer disease Highly suggestive Bellou, 2017 [49]
Late-life depression RR 1.85 (1.67–2.05) Dementia Convincing Bellou, 2017 [49]
OR 2.52 (1.77–3.59) Vascular dementia Weak Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 1.65 (1.42–1.92) Alzheimer disease Convincing Bellou, 2017 [49]
Low level of Education RR 1.88 (1.51–2.33) Dementia Suggestive Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 2.75 (2.19–3.45) Vascular dementia Weak Bellou, 2017 [49]
RR 1.82 (1.36–2.43) Alzheimer disease Suggestive Bellou, 2017 [49]

Abbreviations: BMI body mass index, OR odds ratio, RR relative risk, 95% CI 95% confidence interval

Note: In this table, only statistically significant risk factors that appeared in more than two studies were included