CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACOTORS AND DEMENTIA RISK ACROSS RACIAL GROUPS: A GLOBAL SCOPING REVIEW

EVAN ADETOYE, FUNMILOLA BANJO, DAMILOLA FAKOYA, OLUWAJUNWONLO ABIODUN, OLUSEGUN ODEJIDE, JOKOTADE OKURIBIDO, COMFORT AKANNI, ADETOLA ADEBANWO, YUNUS DELE, TIMILEHIN ABISOLA, ADEWOLE BELLO, CHISOM DICKSON

Global dementia prevention cannot be truly equitable without understanding how cardiovascular risk factors influence dementia across diverse racial and ethnic populations. This scoping review maps the current evidence and highlights critical gaps in global representation and comparative analyses.

INTRODUCTION:

Up to 45% of dementia may be attributable to modifiable risk factors, many of which are cardiovascular in nature. Yet the evidence underpinning these prevention strategies is derived predominantly from white populations in high-income countries, raising concerns about the generalizability of the strategies across diverse racial and ethnic groups. We therefore conducted a global scoping review to map the existing evidence and identify critical gaps for future research.

METHODS
Scoping review conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Five databases (Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and WHO Global Index Medicus) were searched (2000 – 2026).

RESULTS

Dementia incidence varied by ethnicity with one large UK cohort reporting rates of 16% in whites, 12% in blacks and 9% in south Asian participants. The prevalence of hypertension ranged from 30-80% and diabetes from 7030%, with higher cardiovascular risk factor burden consistently observed in blacks and Asians compared with thites. Only a minority (10) of studies tested racial/ethnic disparities

 

CONCLUSION
The current evidence on cardiovascular risk factors and dementia is geographically skewed and lacks robust comparative analyses across racial and ethnic populations. Bridging these evidence gaps through globally representative and methodologically harmonized research is crucial to advancing equitable, population-specific dementia prevention and improving global brain health.

 

REFERENCES

Ferguson, E. L., Vittinghoff, E., Zeki Al Hazzouri, A., Allen, N., Fitzpatrick, A., & Yaffe, K. (2023). Contribution of life course cardiovascular risk factors to racial disparities in dementia incidence. Frontiers in dementia, 2, 1215904. https://doi.org/10.3389/frdem.2023.1215904

Krishnan, A., Pathak, A., Nicholas, T. B., Lee, J., Waite, L., & Stanaway, F. (2024). Racial and ethnic minority representation in dementia risk factor research: a scoping review of cohort studies. BMJ open, 14(9), e085592. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085592