High-complexity jobs that primarily involve work with people or things may be associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia. Dementia is a condition characterised by a chronic decline in mental abilities, especially memory. Short-term memory loss, inability to think through problems, inability to complete complex tasks without detailed instructions and confusion are some of the common symptoms of dementia. To investigate the association between work complexity and the occurrence of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia, researchers from Canada conducted a 10 –years long study, from 1991 to 2001, of a sample of patients aged 65 years or older. A total of 3,557 men and women were followed out of which 400 has dementia, 299 had Alzheimer's disease and 93 suffered from vascular dementia. The most frequently held occupations of these participants included secretaries and stenographers, farmers, elementary and secondary school teachers, registered and graduate nurses and nurses in training, and general office clerks. The occupations were graded as highly or intermediately complex in relation to things, people or data. Factors like work-related physical activity and leisure exercise, gender, education, hobbies, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and family and medical history were taken into consideration while analysing the participants. Around 34 percent reduced risk of dementia was found in participants involved in occupations like teaching that required highly complex interactions with people, as opposed to jobs requiring lower levels of people interaction. The researchers also noticed a 28 percent reduced risk for dementia among people with jobs that involved high levels of complex interactions with things, such as farming. The researchers concluded that the maintenance of cognitive reserve by mental stimulation might be the reason explaining the relation of higher complexity of work with people and lower risk of dementia. However, further research in the field is needed for more conclusive data.
American Journal of Epidemiology,
April 2008