title: Occupational differences between Alzheimer's and aphasic dementias: implication for teachers.
abstract: We aimed to determine whether there is an association between teaching and the development of progressive speech and language disorders (SLDs). Occupation was compared between 100 patients with a progressive SLD, 404 patients with Alzheimer's dementia, and the 2008 US census. In SLDs, the most common occupation was teacher (22%) versus 8% in Alzheimer's dementia. The odds ratio (OR) of being a teacher in SLDs compared to Alzheimer's dementia was 3.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.87-6.17). No differences were observed in the frequency of other occupations. The frequency of teachers was higher in SLDs compared to the US census, OR of 6.9 (95% CI = 4.3-11.1). Farming, forestry, and fishing occupations were more frequent in SLDs compared to the US census. We identified an association between progressive SLDs and the occupation of teaching. Since teaching is a communication demanding occupation, teachers may be more sensitive to the development of speech and language impairments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology (Behavioral Neurology), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. Josephs.keith@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Keith A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Josephs
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Papenfuss
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Edythe A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Strand
authors.forename: Mary M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Machulda
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Whitwell
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001037:Aphasia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019352:Censuses; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005178:Faculty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D016468:Forestry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Alzheimer’s; aphasia; dementia; occupation; teacher