Calculating Dementia Risk

"What sets this dementia risk calculator apart is that you don't need to visit a doctor for any tests."

"People already have all the information they need to complete the calculator in the comfort of their home."

Dr.Stacey Fisher, study lead author, University of Ottawa

"This tool will give people who fill it out clues to what they can do to reduce their personal risk of dementia."

"The COVID-19 pandemic has also made it clear that sociodemographic variables like ethnicity and neighbourhood play a major role in our health."

"It was important to include those variables in the tool so policy makers can understand how different populations are impacted by dementia, and help ensure that any prevention strategies are equitable."

Dr.Peter Tanuseputro, study senior author, University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital

Researchers have built and validated an online calculator that empowers individuals 55 and over to better understand the health of their brain and how they can reduce their risk of being diagnosed with dementia in the next five years.  Project Big Life

 

An online calculator has been placed on a dedicated website for anyone's use thanks to the work of researchers out of the University of Ottawa. The site -- projectbiglife.ca/dementia -- predicts a person's risk over the next five years of developing dementia. Based on survey results of over 75,000 Canadians, it uses age, lifestyle factors, weight and previous health conditions to render a percentage risk of developing dementia.

Each participant in the study that ran for close to two decades was followed for an average of a decade. Findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health online. The dementia platform also was posted live online.

It takes about five minutes to complete the online questionnaire meant exclusively for people 55 years of age and over, and according to the scientists involved in its creation, is 83 percent accurate. While there are other online calculators present on the Internet, few have the scientific background data support that this one can boast.

The data gathered by the scientists in their Dementia Population Risk Tool (DemPoRT), form the backbone of the questions posted on the dementia tool. The critical factors taken into account are age, smoking status and lifetime exposure, alcohol consumption, physical activity, stress, diet, sense of belonging, ethnicity, immigration status, socioeconomic status of neighbourhood, education, activities where assistance is required, marital status, languages spoken, and health conditions.

The individual responding to the questionnaire is given, based on their answers to the questions, their personal relative level of risk, along with 'advice' in the form of focusing on aspects of their life where changes can be made for the purpose of reducing risk.

An elderly couple walks down a hall in Easton, Pa. Research released on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 suggests many American adults inaccurately estimate their chances for developing dementia and do useless things to prevent it. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)