Scholing, Vincent (2021) THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFESTYLE FACTORS ON DEVELOPING DEMENTIA AMONG ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THE USA. Bachelor thesis.
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Lifestyle factors of developing dementia among elderly in the USA, Vincent Scholing s3539601docx.pdf Download (471kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Dementia is a disease without a cure, and due to the increasingly aging population in the US, it can become a bigger burden on society as a whole. Dementia is most often happening during the later stages of a person's life and is linked to genetics, family history, and other factors. Some negative/positive factors relating to the likelihood of developing dementia can be prevented/encouraged to reduce the number of dementia cases in society. This research aims to measure and analyze to what extent smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and BMI influences developing dementia for the elderly of > 65 years old controlling for age, gender, and years of education. To address this research question, a Binary Logistic regression will be done from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) accompanied to this; a literature review will be done to look into the effects of these factors. The results imply that smoking is not related to developing dementia while the literature suggests a relationship, but this relationship fades after quitting smoking for a longer time. Alcohol consumption has a positive effect on light- and moderate-drinkers compared to non-drinkers but negatively affects heavy-drinkers compared to non-drinkers; this corresponds to the literature. Physical activity has a very positive effect of not developing dementia, according to the data and literature. Finally, a higher BMI is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia for people > 65 but the risk is higher for people below that age. Dementia cases can be curbed if certain interventions like quitting smoking or encouraging physical activity are implemented.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Degree programme: | Human Geography and Planning |
| Supervisor: | Vogt, T.C. and Bister, L. |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Feb 2021 13:07 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Feb 2021 13:07 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3430 |
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