Table 2.
Associations between healthy lifestyle score and risk of Alzheimer’s dementia and mortality in women and men
| Transition | Women | Men | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number*; person years | Lifestyle score (healthy factors) | Hazard ratio (95% CI) | Number*; person years | Lifestyle score (healthy factors) | Hazard ratio (95% CI) | ||
| Incident Alzheimer’s dementia | 275; 8332 | 0-1 | 1 (reference) | 164; 4715 | 0-1 | 1 (reference) | |
| — | 2-3 | 0.71 (0.59 to 0.87) | — | 2-3 | 0.70 (0.53 to 0.93) | ||
| — | 4-5 | 0.44 (0.32 to 0.59) | — | 4-5 | 0.30 (0.19 to 0.47) | ||
| Mortality in participants without Alzheimer’s dementia | 787; 17 753 | 0-1 | 1 (reference) | 527; 9626 | 0-1 | 1 (reference) | |
| — | 2-3 | 0.69 (0.62 to 0.77) | — | 2-3 | 0.57 (0.50 to 0.67) | ||
| — | 4-5 | 0.56 (0.49 to 0.65) | — | 4-5 | 0.47 (0.39 to 0.57) | ||
| Mortality in participants with Alzheimer’s dementia | 424; 2521 | 0-1 | 1 (reference) | 260; 1321 | 0-1 | 1 (reference) | |
| — | 2-3 | 1.11 (0.99 to 1.24) | — | 2-3 | 0.83 (0.69 to 1.00) | ||
| — | 4-5 | 1.31 (1.03 to 1.67) | — | 4-5 | 1.00 (0.73 to 1.39) | ||
Models adjusted by age, race, marital status, education, apolipoprotein E ε4 and comorbidities. A behavior was classified as low risk (or healthy) if it met several criteria: Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay—MIND score (without alcohol) >7.5, corresponding to upper 40% of cohort distribution; cognitive activity score >3.43, corresponding to upper 40% of cohort distribution; not being a current smoker; moderate or vigorous exercise for ≥150 min/week; and light to moderate alcohol consumption (1-15 g/day for women and 1-30 g/day for men). Participants with Alzheimer’s dementia (transition 3: mortality in participants with Alzheimer’s dementia) include prevalent dementia at baseline (n=339) and incident dementia (n=439) during follow-up.
Number refers to the number of events (Alzheimer’s dementia or death) during the follow-up for each transition.