Norwegian Researchers Investigate Correlation Between Dementia and Occupation
Mental Burden-Heavy Jobs Significantly Lower Dementia Risk
A study has found that the risk of developing dementia may vary depending on one's occupation. In particular, people engaged in jobs that require significant brain use were found to have better memory and cognitive function in old age compared to those performing mechanical and repetitive tasks.
On the 18th (local time), British newspaper The Guardian and the American New York Times (NYT) reported on the findings of a research team from Oslo University Hospital in Norway, published in the latest issue of the American Academy of Neurology's medical journal, Neurology.
The researchers investigated the correlation between job type and brain use among 7,000 individuals working in 305 different occupations. They first classified the jobs from those with the least mental demand to those with the greatest, then examined the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment. Jobs with low mental demand were defined as those involving mechanical and repetitive tasks. Conversely, jobs that involved analyzing information and interpreting it for others were considered to have relatively high mental demand.
As a result, people in the occupational group with the highest mental demand had a 31% lower risk of dementia after age 70 compared to those in the low-demand group. The risk of mild cognitive impairment was also 66% lower. Looking at the diagnosis rates of mild cognitive impairment, 42% were in the low mental demand group, while 27% were in the high mental demand group.
By occupation, teachers and professors had the lowest incidence of dementia. On the other hand, those engaged in road construction, cleaning, building maintenance, and postal delivery?jobs requiring repetitive manual labor and thus low mental demand?had higher rates of dementia.
Dr. Trine Holt Edwin, the lead author of the study, explained, "These results show that both education and engaging in mentally demanding work during one’s career play important roles in reducing the risk of cognitive impairment later in life."
However, the researchers added, "This study shows only an association, not causation. Cognitive demands vary among individuals, and even within the same occupational group, there can be personal differences, so these findings cannot be generalized."
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