Risk factors for dementia in Brazil: Differences by region and race

Introduction Twelve risk factors (RFs) account for 40% of dementia cases worldwide. However, most data for population attributable fractions (PAFs) are from high‐income countries (HIC). We estimated how much these RFs account for dementia cases in Brazil, stratifying estimates by race and socioeconomic level. Methods We calculated the prevalence and communalities of 12 RFs using 9412 Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging participants, then stratified according to self‐reported race and country macro‐regions. Results The overall weighted PAF was 48.2%. Less education had the largest PAF (7.7%), followed by hypertension (7.6%), and hearing loss (6.8%). PAF was 49.0% and 54.0% in the richest and poorest regions, respectively. PAFs were similar among White and Black individuals (47.8% and 47.2%, respectively) but the importance of the main RF varied by race. Discussion Brazil's potential for dementia prevention is higher than in HIC. Education, hypertension, and hearing loss should be priority targets.