Research Article

Education, occupation and retirement age effects on the age of onset of Alzheimer's disease

  1. Michelle K Lupton1,*,
  2. Daniel Stahl2,
  3. Nicola Archer3,
  4. Catherine Foy3,
  5. Michaela Poppe3,
  6. Simon Lovestone3,
  7. Paul Hollingworth4,
  8. Julie Williams4,
  9. Micheal J Owen4,
  10. Kimberley Dowzell4,
  11. Richard Abraham4,
  12. Rebecca Sims4,
  13. Carol Brayne5,
  14. David Rubinsztein5,
  15. Michael Gill6,
  16. Brian Lawlor6,
  17. Aoibhinn Lynch6,
  18. John F Powell1

Article first published online: 20 MAY 2009

DOI: 10.1002/gps.2294

Issue

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

Volume 25, Issue 1, pages 30–36, January 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lupton, M. K., Stahl, D., Archer, N., Foy, C., Poppe, M., Lovestone, S., Hollingworth, P., Williams, J., Owen, M. J., Dowzell, K., Abraham, R., Sims, R., Brayne, C., Rubinsztein, D., Gill, M., Lawlor, B., Lynch, A. and Powell, J. F. (2010), Education, occupation and retirement age effects on the age of onset of Alzheimer's disease. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25: 30–36. doi: 10.1002/gps.2294

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, UK

  2. 2

    Department of Biostatistics & Computing, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, UK

  3. 3

    Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, UK

  4. 4

    Department of Psychological Medicine, Cardiff University, UK

  5. 5

    Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, UK

  6. 6

    Mercer's Institute for Research on Aging, St. James Hospital and Trinity College, UK

*Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, UK.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 15 DEC 2009
  2. Article first published online: 20 MAY 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 9 MAR 2009
  4. Manuscript Received: 15 JUL 2008

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Keywords:

  • Alzheimer's;
  • cognitive research;
  • occupation;
  • retirement age;
  • age of onset

Abstract

Objective

To determine the effects of early life education, mid life employment and later life retirement age on the age of onset (AOO) of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods

Multiple regression analyses were carried out using data for 1320 probable AD cases, of which 382 were males with employment and retirement age data, using informant based information on education and employment.

Results

No relation was found between years of education, best qualification obtained, or employment variables in males and the AOO of AD. A significant effect of later retirement age in delaying the AOO of AD was seen in males.

Conclusions

In this study no effect of education or employment was seen, although this may be due to limited variance in the study population. The significant effect of retirement age may have several explanations, the most interesting of which would be the suggestion that active employment later in life allows an individual to prolong their cognitive assets above the threshold for dementia. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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