A study published in the British Medical Journal suggests that a new dementia risk score “calculator” could identify people most at risk of developing dementia in the next 14 years. Based on two long-term studies, the risk score draws on a list of 11 predictive factors: age, education, history of diabetes, history of or current depression, history of stroke, parental dementia, economic disadvantage, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, living alone, and male sex. According to lead author Dr Raihaan Patel, the dementia risk score could be used as “an initial screening tool to stratify people into risk groups, and those identified as high risk could then benefit from the more time intensive follow-up assessments.”
