Illiteracy Nearly Triples The Risk Of Dementia

The risk of dementia nearly triples for the population of older adults who are illiterate. At the start of a population study, about 35% (82 of 238) of the illiterate group had dementia, compared to 18% (137 of 743) of literate participants. Illiteracy is defined as the inability to read or write.

Additional findings include:

Among those who were illiterate at the start of the study, 48% had dementia at an average four-year follow-up, compared to 27% of the literate population.
Literacy was linked to higher scores on memory and thinking tests overall, not just reading and language . . .