High education accelerates cognitive decline in dementia: A brief report from the population-based NEDICES cohort

High education has been associated with faster cognitive decline after diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but it is unclear whether these findings extend to other dementia subtypes. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether educational attainment influences the cognitive trajectories of older adults with different dementia subtypes. METHODS All participants were selected from NEDICES, a prospective population-based cohort study of Spanish older adults. A total sample of 53 individuals with dementia completed the MMSE-37 at Times 1 and 2 (mean follow-up=2.8±0.5 years) to assess cognitive decline. RESULTS At follow-up, MMSE-37 scores had decreased by 3.34±4.98 points in low-educated individuals with dementia versus 7.90±4.88 points in high-educated subjects (effect size (r)=0.32, p=0.02). CONCLUSION Educational level influenced the cognitive trajectories of patients with dementia assessed by the MMSE-37.