Religious education and midlife observance are associated with dementia three decades later in Israeli men.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to examine the association of religious education and observance with dementia among participants in the Israeli Ischemic Heart Disease study.


METHODS
We assessed dementia in 1,890 participants among 2,604 survivors of 10,059 participants in the Israeli Ischemic Heart Disease study, a longitudinal investigation of the incidence and risk factors for cardiovascular disease among Jewish male civil servants in Israel. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 651 subjects identified as possibly demented by the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status.


RESULTS
Of 1,628 subjects included in this analysis (mean age 82 at assessment), 308 (18.9%) had dementia. The prevalence rates of dementia (and odds ratios (ORs) relative to those with exclusively religious education, adjusted for age, area of birth, and socioeconomic status) were 27.1% for those with exclusively religious education, 12.6% (OR=0.49) for those with mixed education, and 16.1% (OR=0.76) for those with secular education. For religious self-definition and practice, the prevalence rates were 9.7%, 17.7%, 14.1%, 19.3%, and 28.8% for categories from least to most religious (ORs relative to the most religious: 0.43, 0.67, 0.48, 0.55).


CONCLUSIONS
Examining lifestyles associated with religiosity might shed light onto environmental risks for dementia. Mechanisms underlying these associations remain elusive.
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. michal.beeri@mssm.edu
Michal Schnaider
MS
Beeri
Michael
M
Davidson
Jeremy M
JM
Silverman
James
J
Schmeidler
Ramit Ravona
RR
Springer
Shlomo
S
Noy
Uri
U
Goldbourt
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D007585:Jews / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007599:Judaism / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012307:Risk Factors