Colleagues Nury Insolery from the University of Michigan, along with researchers from the UK and the US, have completed a longitudinal cohort study. They concluded that insufficient food security in old age is associated with an increased probability of developing dementia.
Data from 2051 adults were used for this work, collected as part of the nationally representative PSID survey, which is the longest longitudinal household survey in the world.
Food security was assessed in two stages: in the middle of participants' lives (between 1999 and 2003, when the average age was 50.8 years) using the validated HFSSM questionnaire, and in later years of life—between 2015 and 2019 (average age—66.8 years).
The identification of probable dementia was carried out through AD8 interviews conducted between 2019 and 2021. The correlation between these indicators was determined using generalized estimating equations. The results of this study were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.